Forms: 47 basse, 46 baas, 4 bas, bays, 7 bass, 4 base. [a. F. base (12th c. in Littré):L. bas-is, a. Gr. βάσις a stepping, also that on which one steps or stands, pedestal, base, f. βα- walk, go. The ME. spellings bas, baas, basse, indicate confusion with BASE a., which, in Fr., is distinct in origin and pronunciation.]
I. The lowest or supporting part.
* generally.
1. The bottom of any object, when considered as its support, or as that on which it stands or rests.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., A. 999. Iasper hyȝt þe fyrst gemme Þat I on þe fyrst basse con wale.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 41 b. Þe baas of þe tour. Ibid., § 43 a. To knowe þe heyȝte of þynges, ȝif þou mayst nat come to þe bas of a þyng.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 20. Bace, or fundament, basis.
1483. Cath. Angl., 23. Base (v.r. Bays), basis.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. i. 13. As doth a galled Rocke Oerhang and iutty his confounded Base.
1613. Heywood, Silv. Age, II. i. Wks. 1874, III. 120. Let all yon starry structure from his basses Shrinke to the earth.
1759. Johnson, Rasselas, xxx. (1787), 88. When they came to the great pyramid they were astonished at the extent of the base.
1862. Stanley, Jew. Ch. (1877), I. ix. 182. From the Jabbok up to the base of Hermon.
1866. Tate, Brit. Mollusks, iv. 149. At the bases of the trees.
2. fig. Fundamental principle, foundation, groundwork.
c. 1500. Blowbols Test., in Halliwell, Nugæ Poeticæ, 2. Phisike Whiche men callen baas naturall.
1581. Lambarde, Eiren., IV. v. (1588), 505. Enditements be the chiefe base and groundworke whereupon the whole Triall is afterward to be built.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., I. x. (1686), 28. Hereby he undermineth the Base of Religion.
1738. Wesley, Psalms, xxxvi. Nor Earth can shake, nor Hell remove The Base of thine eternal Love.
1879. Green, Read. Eng. Hist., xx. 100. Henrys charter was at once welcomed as a base for the needed reforms.
† b. Ground of action or attitude. Obs.
1601. Shaks., Twel. N., V. i. 78. Anthonio [is] on base and ground enough Orsinos enemie.
a. 1628. F. Greville, in Farrs S. P. (1845), I. 112. That man nothing yet done amisse And so in him no base of this defection, Should fall from God.
** specifically and technically.
3. Arch. a. The part of a column, consisting of the plinth and various moldings, between the bottom of the shaft and top of the pedestal, or, if there is no pedestal, between the shaft and the pavement.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1278. Þe bases of þe bryȝt postes.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, V. 1652. Pight into pilers prudly to shewe The bases and bourdurs all of bright perle.
1563. Shute, Archit., C j b. Vpon the which Base shalbe set Scapus, or the body of the pillor.
1643. Burroughes, Exp. Hosea, ii. (1652), 174. God many times raises up golden pillars upon leaden Bases.
1734. Builders Dict., s.v., The Corinthian Base has two Tores, two Scotias, and two Astragals.
1868. Freeman, Norm. Conq., II. x. 514. Of Eadwards minster nothing is left save a few bases of pillars.
b. The plinth and moldings that form the slightly projecting part at the bottom of the wall of a room. c. The lowest course of masonry in a building.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 165. Bases and Surbases for Rooms.
4. A pedestal.
c. 1440. Bible (Wyclif), Ex. xxxi. 9 (MS. I). The greet lauatorie with his baas [1388 foundement].
1463. Bury Wills (1850), 19. That the ymage of oure lady be set vp with the baas redy therto.
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, II. 292. These shee mounted on two great Bases or Pedestals of the same Metall.
1835. Thirlwall, Greece, I. vii. 258. The base of his statue bore an inscription.
† 5. A socket. Obs.
c. 1325. [cf. 5].
1380. Sir Ferumb., 1329. Þe raftres And þe bases þat hem bere.
1648. Lightfoot, Glean. Ex., 49. Each Pillar was fastned in a base of brasse.
6. In mechanical arts: a. in Printing, The bottom or footing of letters. b. in Gunnery, The protuberant rear-portion of a cannon, between the knob of the cascabel and the base-ring.
1676. Moxon, Print. Lett., 6. Capital I is all Stem, except the Base and Topping.
16261862. [see 20].
7. Bot. and Zool. That extremity of a part or organ by which it is attached to the trunk; e.g., the part of a leaf adjoining the leaf-stalk, of a pericarp adjoining the peduncle, of a thumb adjoining the hand.
1831. R. Knox, Cloquets Anat., 435. Its base is continuous with the tentorium cerebelli.
1866. Treas. Bot., 121. A five-parted calyx with glands at its base.
8. Her. The lower part of a shield; spec. the width of a bar (or fifth part of the shields height) parted off from the bottom by a horizontal line.
1611. Gwillim, Heraldry, III. vii. 105. He beareth Or, on a Mount in Base a peare tree fructed.
1706. Phillips, Base in Heraldry, the lowest part of an escutcheon, consisting of the Dexter, Middle, and Sinister Base-points.
9. Geom. That line or surface of a plane or solid figure on which it stands, or is considered to stand, Thus:of a triangle, any one side in respect of the other two; of a cone or pyramid, the circle or polygon remote from its apex; of a cylinder or prism, the lower of the two circles or equal polygons which form its ends.
1570. Billingsley, Euclid, I. def. 29. In comparison of any two sides of a triangle, the third is called a base.
1571. Digges, Pantom., IV. def. 22. Any one of the Figures wherewith these solides be enuironed, is called the base of that solide.
1660. Barrow, Euclid, I. v. The angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal.
1817. R. Jameson, Charac. Min., 104. Terminal planes are the smallest planes that bound the greatest extent. In the prism they form the bases.
1831. Brewster, Optics, ii. 17. A cone of rays, whose base is the circular mirror.
† b. Distinct base in Optics: focal distance. Obs.
1706. in Phillips.
172751. Chambers, Cycl., Distinct base is that distance, from the pole of a convex glass, in which objects, beheld through it, appear distinct, and well defined.
10. Fortification. The imaginary line that connects the salient angle of two adjacent bastions.
1721. in Bailey.
II. The main or most important element or ingredient, looked upon as its fundamental part.
11. generally.
1471. Ripley, Comp. Alch., in Ashm. (1652), Ep. 112. Our Base principally, Wherof doth spring both Whyte and Red naturally.
1696. Phillips, Base the principal Ingredient in a prescription.
1810. Henry, Elem. Chem. (1826), I. 627. A strong presumption that alumina is a metallic oxide; but its base, aluminum, has not been yet obtained.
12. Dyeing. A substance used as a mordant, by which colors are fixed in the material dyed.
1791. Hamilton, Berthollets Dyeing, II. II. ii. 121. Its colouring particles are fixed by a base.
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, II. 168. The fixation of iron oxide and several other bases depends on the same change within the pores or fibre.
13. Mod. Chem. The electropositive compound body, whether metallic oxide (sulphide, selenide), hydrate, or alkaloid, which enters into combination with an acid to form a salt; the correlative of ACID, including, but having wider meaning than, ALKALI.
1810. Henry, Elem. Chem. (1826), II. 51. Arsenites may be formed by simply boiling the arsenious acid with the respective bases.
1855. Bain, Senses & Int., II. ii. § 1. In salts the taste is determined more by the base than by the acid.
1871. Roscoe, Elem. Chem., 427. Vegeto-alkaloids a series of bodies containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which act as bases, and are found in certain plants.
14. Gram. The form of a word to which suffixes are attached; the theme.
1875. Whitney, Life Lang., iv. 71. In the Scythian languages, it is the final vowel of the base which assimilates that of the following suffixes. Ibid., x. 207. The derivative theme or base.
III. That from which a commencement of action or reckoning is made, regarded as a fundamental starting-point.
15. a. The line or limit from which the start is made in a race, or which serves as a goal for the finish. b. The fixed line or goal across which players endeavor to strike the ball in such games as hockey. c. The fixed points or stations round which the striker at rounders or base-ball has to run, and at any of which he is allowed to stay.
1695. Blackmore, Pr. Arth., IX. 358. While round the Base the wanton Coursers play, Th ambitious Riders in just Scales they weigh.
1812. W. Tennant, Anster Fair, III. lvi. His toils are oer, and he has gained the base.
1875. Stonehenge, Brit. Sports, III. I. iv. § 1. If while running between the bases he is hit by the ball, he is put out.
16. Mil. The line or place upon which the general of an army relies as a stronghold and magazine, and from which the operations of a campaign are conducted. Also transf. to other operations.
1860. Gen. P. Thompson, Audi Alt., III. cxxii. 68. The theory of the base. A leading point in it, being that you must not pass a fortification, by reason of the effects its garrison would have on you if you left it in your rear.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea, II. 193. The territory on which these resources are spread is called the base of operations.
17. Surv. A line on the earths surface or in space, of which the exact length and position are accurately determined, and which is used as a base (sense 9) for trigonometrical observations and computations.
1834. Mrs. Somerville, Connex. Phys. Sc., vi. 54. Measuring 500 feet of a base in Ireland. Ibid. (1849), Introd. 2. Use the globe he inhabits as a base wherewith to measure the magnitude and distance of the sun and planets.
18. Math. The number from which, as a definite starting-point, a system of numeration or logarithms proceeds.
1874. Todhunter, Trigon., x. 93. Suppose a1=n, then x is called the logarithm of n to the base a e. g. 34=81; thus 4 is the logarithm of 81 to the base 3.
Mod. The base of our system of numeration is 10.
IV. Comb. and Attrib.
19. General relations: a. appositive (= forming a base), as base-colo(u)r, -line, -plate, -squadron, -unit; b. attrib. (= belonging to, or situated at, the base), as base-course, -mo(u)lding (see 5 b), -shoot, -table.
a. 1832. Regul. & Instr. Cavalry, III. 46. The Base Squadron, Troop, or Division, is the one upon which a Formation is made.
1871. C. Davies, Metric Syst., II. 41. That the metre is too large for a base-unit.
1879. Harlan, Eyesight, v. 61. Red, yellow, and blue were formerly considered the base colors.
1879. Cassells Techn. Educ., IV. 243/1. At the back of the base-plate is a small stud.
b. 1845. Gloss. Goth. Archit., I. 47. Base-moulding, Base-table a projecting moulding or band of mouldings near the bottom of a wall.
1879. Sir G. Scott, Lect. Archit., II. 82. The walls were further relieved by projecting base-courses.
1882. Garden, 11 March, 169/1. When all the base shoots are neatly tied down.
20. Special combinations: base-burner, a furnace or stove in which the fuel is supplied to the fire automatically from a hopper as the lower stratum is consumed; base-line (see quot. and cf. 16, 17); also in Perspective, the common section of a picture and the geometrical plane, and in Gunnery, a line traced round a cannon at the rear of the vent; base-point, in Her., the middle point of the base (see 8); base-ring, a molding on the breech of a cannon between the base and the first reinforce; † base-square (see quot.).
1785. Roy, Surveying, in Phil. Trans., LXXV. 406. It was seen that the computed *base-line would fall little short of the hypothenusal distance.
1830. E. Campbell, Dict. Mil. Sc., *Base-line, in Military Tactics, signifies the line on which all Magazines and means of Supply of an Army are established.
1605. Camden, Rem. (1637), 225. John of Clarence bare a Floure-de-lis Or in *Base-Point.
1626. Capt. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 32. Her carnooze or *base ring at her britch.
1862. F. Griffiths, Artill. Man., 53. The Length of a gun is ascertained by measuring it from the rear of the base ring to the face of the muzzle.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, IV. i. 95. The *Base square, is the battell [i.e., battalion] which containeth almost thrise, or 3 times more in breadth then in depth.