''base'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''base'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260605232103-00-⌔

base - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

base (countable and uncountable, plural bases)

• Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
  • A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object.
    • ✤ Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.¹
• The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis.
• A site, structure, or both, usually durable and often permanent, for housing military personnel and materiel.
• The place where decisions for an organization are made; headquarters.
• (cooking, painting, pharmacy) A basic but essential component or ingredient.
• A substance used as a mordant in dyeing.²
• (cosmetics) Foundation: a cosmetic cream to make the face appear uniform.
• (chemistry) Any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds that turn red litmus blue and react with acids to form salts.
• Important areas in games and sports.
  • A safe zone in the children’s games of tag and hide-and-go-seek.
  • (baseball) One of the four places that a runner can stand without being subject to being tagged out when the ball is in play.
• (architecture) The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement.
• (biology, biochemistry) A nucleotide’s nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer.
• (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support.
• (electronics) The name of the controlling terminal of a bipolar transistor (BJT).
• (geometry) The lowest side of a triangle or other polygon, or the lowest face of a cone, pyramid or other polyhedron laid flat.
• (heraldry) The lowest third of a shield (or field), or an ordinary occupying this space, the champagne. (Compare terrace.)
  • ✤ The shield was silver, charged with a red cross voided (that is, with the centre cut out and only the edges left), between in chief (that is, above the horizontal limb of the cross) two black dragon’s wings, and in base two red daggers, and in the centre of the cross a black winged helmet; on a red chief (a broad band across the top of the shield), a silver pale (a broad vertical band), and thereon eight black arrows crossed X-wise, four and four, and encircled with a black band, between on the dexter three bendlets (narrow bands slanting from dexter chief to sinister base) enhanced (that is, raised above the centre), and on the sinister a fleur-de-lis, all of gold.³
• (mathematics) A number raised to the power of an exponent.
  • ✤ The logarithm to base 2 of 8 is 3.
• (mathematics) Synonym of radix.
• (topology) The set of sets from which a topology is generated.
• (topology) A topological space, looked at in relation to one of its covering spaces, fibrations, or bundles.
• (group theory) A sequence of elements not jointly stabilized by any nontrivial group element.
• (acrobatics, cheerleading) In hand-to-hand balance, the person who supports the flyer; the person that remains in contact with the ground.
• (linguistics) A morpheme (or morphemes) that serves as a basic foundation on which affixes can be attached.
• (music) Dated form of bass.
  • ✤ The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.⁴
• (military, historical) The smallest kind of cannon.
• (archaic) The housing of a horse.
• (historical, sometimes in the plural) A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower.
  • ✤ […] with flowers of gold, the body lined with velvet, and the bases, or skirts, with satin; also a frock of black satin, lined with sarcenet, having three welts of the same.⁵
• (historical, sometimes in the plural) A kind of armour skirt, of mail or plate, imitating the preceding civilian skirt.
  • ✤ Coordinate terms: tonlet, lamboys
  • ✤ The base (skirt), as opposed to the practical skirt of the tonlet armour, is an affectation in imitation of the civilian fabric garment of the period and may well have been inspired by a similar feature on Maximilian’s gift armour.⁶
  • ✤ Both knee-length bases are made from black velvet […] There was a second type of metal skirt that could be worn with armour: the tonlet. […] Unlike the base, however, the tonlet did not have a textile counterpart. […]⁷
• (obsolete) The lower part of a robe or petticoat.
• (obsolete) An apron.
  • ✤ *bakers in their linen bases *⁸
• A line in a survey which, being accurately determined in length and position, serves as the origin from which to compute the distances and positions of any points or objects connected with it by a system of triangles.
  • ✤ Use the globe he inhabits as a base wherewith to measure the magnitude and distance of the sun and planets.⁹
• (politics) A group of voters who almost always support a single party’s candidates for elected office.
  • ✤ Synonyms: electoral base, political base
• (Marxism) The forces and relations of production that produce the necessities and amenities of life.
  • ✤ Synonym: substructure
  • ✤ Antonym: superstructure
• A material that holds paint or other materials together; a binder.
• (aviation) Ellipsis of base leg.
• (slang, uncountable) freebase cocaine
  • ✤ TYLER LENNON (played by Louis Healy): Ten grand a week we were clearing: base, white, meth, weed, anything. I can get you anything to get you high.¹⁰
  • ✤ Shared you with my friends, the Pops they never had/You lived for our fishing trips, damn I had a dad/[…]/See, mine made sure he had every base covered/So imagine his pain finding base in the cupboard¹¹

Verb

base (third-person singular simple present bases, present participle basing, simple past and past participle based)

• (transitive) To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of.
  • ✤ Synonym: ground
  • ✤ Firstly, I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants.¹²
• (transitive) To be located (at a particular place).
  • ✤ Troops have been based in Munich since the end of World War II.
  • ✤ Top management decided to base our new Spanish subsidiary in Arévalo (Ávila).
  • ✤ Take a look at that. This is where we are going to be basing this season.¹³
• (acrobatics, cheerleading) To act as a base; to be the person supporting the flyer.
  • ✤ Apart from time taken out during radio- and chemotherapy, Maurs continued to participate in POW. She would base a flyer in a double balance and make the audience laugh with her clowning antics for two more shows.¹⁴
• (slang) To freebase.
  • ✤ You know he started to base at a hell of a pace/And now it’s a disgrace, he’s got the pipe in his face¹⁵

Adjective

base (comparativebaser or more base, superlativebasest or most base)

• (obsolete) Low in height; short.
  • ✤ The cedar stoops not to the base shrub’s foot.¹⁶
• Low in place or position.
  • ✤ I see thy glory like a shooting star/Fall to the base earth from the firmament.¹⁷
• (obsolete) Of low value or degree.
  • ✤ If thou livest in paine and sorrow, thy base courage is the cause of it, To die there wanteth but will.¹⁸
• (archaic) Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common.
  • ✤ UUhat meanes the mightie Turkiſh Emperor
    To talke with one ſo baſe as Tamburlaine?¹⁹
  • ✤ Wherefore should I/Stand in the plague of custome, and permit/The curiosity of Nations, to deprive me? For that I am some twelve, or fourteen Moonshines/Lag of a Brother? Why Bastard? Wherefore base?/When my Dimensions are as well compact, My minde as generous, and my shape as true/As honest madams issue? Why brand they us/With Base? With basenes Bastardie? Base, Base?²⁰
  • ✤ a peasant and base swain²¹
• Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
  • ✤ a cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind²²
  • ✤ * base ingratitude*²³
  • ✤ “Mrs. Yule’s chagrin and horror at what she called her son’s base ingratitude knew no bounds; at first it was even thought that she would never get over it. […]”²⁴
  • ✤ We never, ever change/We make, the same mistakes/If you’re gonna have roads/You’re gonna have roadkill/That’s the risk that it takes/Stone guns/Primitive tanks/Base emotions drive the horde/The diplomat takes, the rook from the board/I want to know what was, in the briefcase/Colder than cold war/Enemies without uniforms²⁵
• (now rare) Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality.
  • ✤ ‘Like this horrible film.’
    ‘Horrible?’ Lenina was genuinely astonished. ‘But I thought it was lovely.’
    ‘It was base,’ he said indignantly, ‘it was ignoble.’²⁶
• (of a metal) Not considered precious or noble.
• Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.
  • ✤ * base coin*
  • ✤ * base bullion*
• (obsolete) Of illegitimate birth; bastard.
  • ✤ Why bastard? Wherefore base?²⁷
• Not classical or correct.
  • ✤ * base Latin*²⁸
• Obsolete form of bass.
  • ✤ the base tone of a violin
• (law) Relating to feudal land tenure held by a tenant from a lord in exchange for services that are seen as unworthy for noblemen to perform, such as villeinage.
  • ✤ A base estate is one held by services not honourable, or held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant is a base tenant.

Noun

base (uncountable)

• (now chiefly US, historical) The game of prisoners’ bars. [from 15th c.]
  • ✤ *to run the country base *²⁹
  • ✤ So ran they all, as they had bene at bace,/They being chased that did others chase.³⁰

Noun

base

• Alternative form of BASE.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bās
  • (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA: /beɪs/
    • Audio (California): 🔊
  • (Australian, New Zealand) IPA: /bæɪs/
• (Ireland) IPA: /beːs/
• Hyphenation: base
• Rhymes: -eɪs
• Homophone: bass

Etymology 1

From Middle English base, bas, baas, from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis). Doublet of basis and bass.

Etymology 2

From Middle English base, bas, from Old French bas, from Late Latin bassus (“low”). Cognate with Spanish bajo, Italian basso and base.

Etymology 3

Probably a specific use of Etymology 1, above; perhaps also a development of the plural of bar.

Etymology 4

Variant forms.

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC: ↩

2. Andrew Ure (1839), A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines ‎${}^{[1]}$, London: Longman, Orme, Browne, Green, & Longmans, ↩

3. 1956 July, Col. H. C. B. Rogers, “Railway Heraldry”, in Railway Magazine, page 479: ↩

4. 1709, J[ohn] Dryden, J[ohn] Oldham, “”, in Mac Flecknoe: A Poem. […] With Spencer’s Ghost: Being a Satyr Concerning Poetry. […], London: […] H[enry] Hills, […], →OCLC: ↩

5. 1842, Joseph Strutt, A Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England, page 246: ↩

6. 1977, Armours of Henry VIII: ↩

7. 2007, AHRC Research Centre for Textile Conservation and Textile Studies. Conference, Textiles and Text: Re-establishing the Links Between Archival and Object-based Research: Postprints, pages 47–49: ↩

8. 1613, John Marston, The Insatiate Countess: ↩

9. 1834, Mary Somerville, On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences: ↩

10. 2019 January 20, Ann Cleeves, Paul Matthew Thompson, 1:26:51 from the start, in Lawrence Gough, director, Vera(Cuckoo) (9), episode 2 (TV series), spoken by Tyler Lennon (Louis Healy): ↩

11. 2025 July 11, “The Birds Don’t Sing”, in Gene Thornton, Pharrel Williams, Stevie Wonder, Terrence Thornton (lyrics), Let God Sort Em Out ‎${}^{[3]}$, performed by Clipse, John Legend, and Voices of Fire, Roc Nation Distribution, via Spotify: ↩

12. 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii: ↩

13. 2024 February 4, Grian, 23:40 from the start, in Hermitcraft 10: Episode 1 - THE START ‎${}^{[4]}$: ↩

14. 2005, John T. Warren, Laura B. Lengel, Casting Gender: Women and Performance in Intercultural Context, →ISBN, page 73: ↩

15. 1984, “8 Million Stories”, in Ego Trip, performed by Kurtis Blow ft. Run-DMC: ↩

16. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, line 664: ↩

17. c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 2, scene 4, lines 19–20: ↩

18. 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC: ↩

19. c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii: ↩

20. c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 285, column 2: ↩

21. 1623, Francis Bacon, De Augmentis Scientiarum: ↩

22. 1551, Ralph Robynson, transl., More’s Utopia: ↩

23. 1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC: ↩

24. 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020: ↩

25. 2012, “The Diplomat”, performed by Pig Destroyer: ↩

26. 1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World ‎${}^{[5]}$, London: Chatto & Windus: ↩

27. c. 1605–1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1, scene 2, line 6: ↩

28. 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC,: ↩

29. 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]: ↩

30. 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC: ↩

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