base

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of base in English

English Online Dictionary. What means base‎? What does base mean?

English

Pronunciation

enPR: bās, IPA^(key): /beɪs/
(Ireland) IPA^(key): /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.

Noun

base (countable and uncountable, plural bases)

Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
1. A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object.
The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis.
A permanent structure for housing military personnel and material.
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.
(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.
1. A safe zone in the children's games of tag and hide-and-go-seek.
3. (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.)
(mathematics) A number raised to the power of an exponent.
(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.
(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.
(historical, sometimes in the plural) A kind of armour skirt, of mail or plate, imitating the preceding civilian skirt.
Coordinate terms: tonlet, lamboys
(obsolete) The lower part of a robe or petticoat.
(obsolete) An apron.
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.
(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) Short for base leg.
(slang, uncountable) freebase cocaine

Synonyms

(chemical compound that will neutralize an acid): alkali

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “chemical compound that will neutralize an alkali”): acid
(antonym(s) of “end of a leaf”): apex

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

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.
(transitive) To be located (at a particular place).
(acrobatics, cheerleading) To act as a base; to be the person supporting the flyer.
(slang) To freebase.

Derived terms

base off
base on
rebase

Translations

Etymology 2

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

Adjective

base (comparative baser or more base, superlative basest or most base)

(obsolete) Low in height; short.
Low in place or position.
(obsolete) Of low value or degree.
(archaic) Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common.
Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
(now rare) Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality.
(of a metal) Not considered precious or noble.
Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.
(obsolete) Of illegitimate birth; bastard.
Not classical or correct.
Obsolete form of bass.
(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.

Usage notes

Said of fellows, motives, occupations, etc.

Synonyms

(low, short): little, petite, short
(of position): low-lying, lowland
(of value): See Thesaurus:insignificant
(vulgar, common): common, low-born, lowly, plebeian, vulgar
(immoral): See Thesaurus:despicable or Thesaurus:evil
(of inferior quality): See Thesaurus:low-quality
(describing metals):
(of illegitimate birth): See Thesaurus:illegitimate
(not classical):
(not held by honourable service):

Antonyms

likeable
desirable
admirable
noble

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

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

Noun

base (uncountable)

(now chiefly US, historical) The game of prisoners' bars. [from 15th c.]

Etymology 4

Variant forms.

Noun

base

Alternative form of BASE

Derived terms

base jumper
base jumping

References

“base”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
“base”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

Abes, EABs, EBSA, baes, seba

Afrikaans

Noun

base

plural of baas

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Noun

base f (plural bases)

base

Related terms

basar
básicu

Bambara

Noun

base

a bush taxi, a common type of public transit
Synonym: duurunin

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈba.zə]
IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈba.ze]

Noun

base f (plural bases)

base
basis
grounding
foundation

Noun

base m or f by sense (plural bases)

(sports) playmaker
(basketball) point guard

Derived terms

base de dades
interbase

Related terms

basar
basal
bàsic

Czech

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈbasɛ]

Noun

base

dative/locative singular of basa
vocative/locative singular of bas

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈbaːzɛ]

Noun

base f

Obsolete form of báze.

Declension

Danish

Etymology

From French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (básis). Doublet of basis and also related distantly to komme.

Noun

base c (singular definite basen, plural indefinite baser)

(chemistry) base (generally understood to be a Brønsted-Lowry base)
(military) base
headquarters

Declension

Synonyms

(headquarters): hovedkvarter

Descendants

→ Icelandic: basi m

Dutch

Alternative forms

basis (obsolete in this sense)

Etymology

Borrowed from French base, from Latin basis. Doublet of basis. Also a distant doublet of komst, via Proto-Indo-European *gʷḿ̥tis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbaː.zə/
Hyphenation: ba‧se
Rhymes: -aːzə

Noun

base f (plural basen, diminutive basetje n)

(chemistry) base (class of compounds), alkali

Synonyms

loog

Antonyms

zuur

Derived terms

basisch
basenpaar
basenvolgorde
Lewisbase

Descendants

→ Indonesian: basa

References

“base” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /baz/ ~ /bɑz/
(Quebec, formal) IPA^(key): [bɑːz]
(Quebec, informal) IPA^(key): [bɑʊ̯z]

Noun

base f (plural bases)

base (bottom part of something)
base (safe place)
base, basis (fundamental belief)
(chemistry) base

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Czech: báze
→ Danish: base
- → Icelandic: basi m
→ Norwegian:
- → Norwegian Bokmål: base
- → Norwegian Nynorsk: base
→ Romanian: bază
→ Russian: база (baza)
- → Armenian: բազա (baza)
- → Azerbaijani:
  Cyrillic script: база
  Latin script: baza
- → Crimean Tatar:
  Cyrillic script: база
  Latin script: baza
- → Georgian: ბაზა (baza)
- → Kazakh:
  Arabic script: بازا (baza)
  Cyrillic script: база (baza)
- → Mongolian:
  Mongolian script: [Term?]
  Cyrillic script: бааз (baaz)
- → Tuvan: бааза (baaza)

Galician

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Noun

base f (plural bases)

base

Related terms

basear
básico

Italian

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈba.ze/
Rhymes: -aze
Hyphenation: bà‧se

Noun

base f (plural basi)

base, alkaline
basis
(figurative) mainstay

Antonyms

sommità, altezza

Related terms

basare
basico
basilare
di base
in base a

Latin

Noun

base

ablative singular of basis

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (básis), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis.

Alternative forms

bace, bas, baas, basse

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbaːs(ə)/

Noun

base (plural bases)

A foundation or base; the bottom of a building.
The foundation, base, or bottom of a column, statue, or vase.
(rare) Padding inserted below a horse's bridle.
(rare) A hand's palm; the section of a hand below the fingers.
(rare) The bottom portion of a dress.
(rare, alchemy) The mix of metals used as a base for alchemical operations.

Descendants

English: base
Scots: base

References

“bās(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-03.

Etymology 2

Adjective

base

Alternative form of bas

Etymology 3

Noun

base

Alternative form of bace

Moore

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bà.se/

Verb

base

to leave
to cancel, stop, cease
to abandon, throw away

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

(Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpase/

Verb

base

inflection of bassit:
1. present indicative connegative
2. second-person singular imperative
3. imperative connegative

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English base, and French base (in chemistry). Ultimately from Latin basis and a doublet of basis.

Noun

base m (definite singular basen, indefinite plural baser, definite plural basene)

(chemistry, military, general) a base

Derived terms

References

“base” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English base, and French base (in chemistry). Ultimately from Latin basis and a doublet of basis.

Noun

base m (definite singular basen, indefinite plural basar, definite plural basane)

(chemistry, military, general) a base

Derived terms

basisk
database
marinebase
militærbase

References

“base” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Noun

base oblique singular, f (oblique plural bases, nominative singular base, nominative plural bases)

base (bottom part; supporting part)

Descendants

French: base
- → Czech: báze
- → Danish: base
  - → Icelandic: basi m
- → Norwegian:
  - → Norwegian Bokmål: base
  - → Norwegian Nynorsk: base
- → Romanian: bază
- → Russian: база (baza)
  - → Armenian: բազա (baza)
  - → Azerbaijani:
    Cyrillic script: база
    Latin script: baza
  - → Crimean Tatar:
    Cyrillic script: база
    Latin script: baza
  - → Georgian: ბაზა (baza)
  - → Kazakh:
    Arabic script: بازا (baza)
    Cyrillic script: база (baza)
  - → Mongolian:
    Mongolian script: [Term?]
    Cyrillic script: бааз (baaz)
  - → Tuvan: бааза (baaza)
- ⇒ French: baser
  - → Dutch: baseren
  - → Norwegian:
    - Norwegian Bokmål: basere
    - Norwegian Nynorsk: basere
  - → Romanian: baza
→ Middle English: base, bace, bas, baas, basse
- English: base
- Scots: base

References

Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (base, supplement)

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -azi, -azɨ
Hyphenation: ba‧se

Noun

base f (plural bases)

basis
base
(chemistry) base
Antonym: ácido
groundwork
(cosmetics) foundation

Derived terms

Related terms

Rukai

Etymology 1

From Japanese バス (basu).

Noun

base

(vehicles) bus

Etymology 2

Noun

base

broth

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbase/ [ˈba.se]
Rhymes: -ase
Syllabification: ba‧se

Etymology 1

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Noun

base f (plural bases)

base
basis
(linear algebra) basis
- Base on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es
grounding
(cosmetics) foundation
(basketball) point guard
- Base on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es
(baseball) base
(Marxism) base (forces and relations of production that produce the necessities and amenities of life)
Synonym: infraestructura

Antonym: superestructura

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

Verb

base

inflection of basar:
1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
2. third-person singular imperative

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish base (“basis”). The baseball definition is from English base, but pronounced the same as the Spanish word.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbase/ [ˈbaː.sɛ]
Rhymes: -ase
Syllabification: ba‧se

Noun

base (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜐᜒ)

base; basis
Synonyms: batayan, tuntunin, pamantayan
(baseball) base

Derived terms

Venetan

Adjective

base f

feminine plural of baso

base

base

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Synonyms

Antonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Adjective

Usage notes

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

Etymology 4

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

References

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Noun

Asturian

Etymology

Noun

Related terms

Bambara

Noun

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Czech

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Danish

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

Descendants

Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

References

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

Galician

Etymology

Noun