base
/ˈbeɪs/BAYS
/ˈbeɪs/BAYS
Meaningstep or foundation
Common meaning: lowest supporting part
- basestep or foundationSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 53 · scan
Journey through time
- Aryan root · reconstructed√GA or GAM‘come, to go, walk, pro- ceed’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 86, p. 733 · scan
- Greekbasis‘step or foundation’source
- Middle Englishbas‘foundation’source
- Englishmeaning shiftsfoundation → lowest supporting partbase‘lowest supporting part’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek basis ‘step or foundation’.
Roots
- basis Greek “step or foundation”
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