base

Etymology 1

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

noun

1. Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
   1. 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. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess
2. The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis.
3. A permanent structure for housing military personnel and material.
4. The place where decisions for an organization are made; headquarters.
5. (cooking, painting, pharmacy) A basic but essential component or ingredient.
6. A substance used as a mordant in dyeing.
7. (cosmetics) Foundation: a cosmetic cream to make the face appear uniform.
8. (chemistry) Any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds, having bitter taste, that turn red litmus blue, and react with acids to form salts.
9. Important areas in games and sports.
   1. A safe zone in the children's games of tag and hide-and-go-seek.
   2. (baseball) One of the four places that a runner can stand without being subject to being tagged out when the ball is in play.
10. (architecture) The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement.
11. (biology, biochemistry) A nucleotide's nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer.
12. (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support.
13. (electronics) The name of the controlling terminal of a bipolar transistor (BJT).
14. (geometry) The lowest side of a triangle or other polygon, or the lowest face of a cone, pyramid or other polyhedron laid flat.
15. (heraldry) The lowest third of a shield (or field), or an ordinary occupying this space, the champagne. (Compare terrace..)
16. (mathematics) A number raised to the power of an exponent.
    The logarithm to base 2 of 8 is 3.
17. (mathematics) Synonym of radix.
18. (topology) The set of sets from which a topology is generated.
19. (topology) A topological space, looked at in relation to one of its covering spaces, fibrations, or bundles.
20. (group theory) A sequence of elements not jointly stabilized by any nontrivial group element.
21. (acrobatics, cheerleading) In hand-to-hand balance, the person who supports the flyer; the person that remains in contact with the ground.
22. (linguistics) A morpheme (or morphemes) that serves as a basic foundation on which affixes can be attached.
23. (music) Dated form of bass.
24. (military, historical) The smallest kind of cannon.
25. (archaic) The housing of a horse.
26. (historical, sometimes in the plural) A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade, but sometimes of mail or other armour) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower.
    Coordinate term: 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. 1977, Armours of Henry VIII
    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. … 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
27. (obsolete) The lower part of a robe or petticoat.
28. (obsolete) An apron.
    bakers in their linen bases 1613, John Marston, The Insatiate Countess
29. 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. 1834, Mary Somerville, On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences
30. (politics) A group of voters who almost always support a single party's candidates for elected office.
31. (Marxism) The forces and relations of production that produce the necessities and amenities of life.
32. A material that holds paint or other materials together; a binder.
33. (aviation) Short for base leg.
34. (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. 2019-01-20, 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)

verb

1. (transitive) To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of.
2. (transitive) To be located (at a particular place).
3. (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. 2005, John T. Warren, Laura B. Lengel, Casting Gender: Women and Performance in Intercultural Context, page 73
4. (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 face 1984, “8 Million Stories”, in Ego Trip, performed by Kurtis Blow ft. Run-DMC

Etymology 2

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

adj

1. (obsolete) Low in height; short.
   The cedar stoops not to the base shrub's foot. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, line 664
2. Low in place or position.
   I see thy glory like a shooting star / Fall to the base earth from the firmament. c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 2, scene 4, lines 19–20
3. (obsolete) Of low value or degree.
4. (archaic) Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common.
   a peasant and base swain 1623, Francis Bacon, De Augmentis Scientiarum
5. Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
   a cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind 1551, Ralph Robynson, transl., More's Utopia
   “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.[…]” 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace
6. (now rare) Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality.
7. (of a metal) Not considered precious or noble.
8. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.
   base coin
   base bullion
9. (obsolete) Of illegitimate birth; bastard.
   Why bastard? Wherefore base? c. 1605–1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1, scene 2, line 6
10. Not classical or correct.
11. Obsolete form of bass.
    the base tone of a violin
12. (law) Not held by honourable service.
    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.

Etymology 3

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

noun

1. (now chiefly US, historical) The game of prisoners' bars.

Etymology 4

Variant forms.

noun

1. Alternative form of BASE