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base2

Syllabification: (base)
Pronunciation: /bās/

Translate base | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of base

adjective

  • (of a person or a person’s actions or feelings) without moral principles; ignoble:the electorate’s baser instincts of greed and selfishness we hope his motives are nothing so base as money
  • archaic denoting or befitting a person of low social class.
  • (of coins or other articles) not made of precious metal:the basest coins in the purse were made in the seventh century ad

Derivatives

basely

adverb

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French bas, from medieval Latin bassus 'short' (found in classical Latin as a cognomen). The senses in late Middle English included 'low, short' and 'of inferior quality'; from the latter arose a sense 'low on the social scale, menial', and hence (mid 16th century) 'reprehensibly cowardly, selfish, or mean'

base in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of base in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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