2. (Mus.)
(a) The lowest part in a musical composition.
(b) One who sings, or the instrument which plays, bass.
[Written also {base}.]
{Thorough bass}. See {Thorough bass}.
2. Low in place or position. [Obs.] --Shak.
3. Of humble birth; or low degree; lowly; mean. [Archaic] ``A
pleasant and base swain.'' --Bacon.
4. Illegitimate by birth; bastard. [Archaic]
Why bastard? wherefore base? --Shak.
5. Of little comparative value, as metal inferior to gold and
silver, the precious metals.
6. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased; as, base coin; base
bullion.
7. Morally low. Hence: Low-minded; unworthy; without dignity
of sentiment; ignoble; mean; illiberal; menial; as, a base
fellow; base motives; base occupations. ``A cruel act of a
base and a cowardish mind.'' --Robynson (More's Utopia).
``Base ingratitude.'' --Milton.
8. Not classical or correct. ``Base Latin.'' --Fuller.
9. Deep or grave in sound; as, the base tone of a violin. [In
this sense, commonly written {bass.}]
10. (Law) Not held by honorable service; as, a base estate,
one held by services not honorable; held by villenage.
Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant, a
base tenant.
{Base fee}, formerly, an estate held at the will of the lord;
now, a qualified fee. See note under {Fee}, n., 4.
{Base metal}. See under {Metal}.
Syn: Dishonorable; worthless; ignoble; low-minded; infamous;
sordid; degraded.
Usage: {Base}, {Vile}, {Mean}. These words, as expressing
moral qualities, are here arranged in the order of
their strength, the strongest being placed first. Base
marks a high degree of moral turpitude; vile and mean
denote, in different degrees, the want of what is
valuable or worthy of esteem. What is base excites our
abhorrence; what is vile provokes our disgust or
indignation; what is mean awakens contempt. Base is
opposed to high-minded; vile, to noble; mean, to
liberal or generous. Ingratitude is base; sycophancy
is vile; undue compliances are mean.
2. Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing; the
essential principle; a groundwork.
3. (Arch.)
(a) The lower part of a wall, pier, or column, when
treated as a separate feature, usually in projection,
or especially ornamented.
(b) The lower part of a complete architectural design, as
of a monument; also, the lower part of any elaborate
piece of furniture or decoration.
4. (Bot.) That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it
is attached to its support.
If any . . . based his pike. --Sir T.
North.
2. To reduce the value of; to debase. [Obs.]
Metals which we can not base. --Bacon.
There was not a man to till the ground. --Gen. ii.
5.
The fire ran along upon the ground. --Ex. ix. 23.
Hence: A floor or pavement supposed to rest upon the
earth.
2. Any definite portion of the earth's surface; region;
territory; country. Hence: A territory appropriated to, or
resorted to, for a particular purpose; the field or place
of action; as, a hunting or fishing ground; a play ground.
From . . . old Euphrates, to the brook that parts
Egypt from Syrian ground. --Milton.
3. Land; estate; possession; field; esp. (pl.), the gardens,
lawns, fields, etc., belonging to a homestead; as, the
grounds of the estate are well kept.
Thy next design is on thy neighbor's grounds.
--Dryden. 4.
4. The basis on which anything rests; foundation. Hence: The
foundation of knowledge, belief, or conviction; a premise,
reason, or datum; ultimate or first principle; cause of
existence or occurrence; originating force or agency; as,
the ground of my hope.
5. (Paint. & Decorative Art)
(a) That surface upon which the figures of a composition
are set, and which relieves them by its plainness,
being either of one tint or of tints but slightly
contrasted with one another; as, crimson Bowers on a
white ground. See {Background}, {Foreground}, and
{Middle-ground}.
(b) In sculpture, a flat surface upon which figures are
raised in relief.
(c) In point lace, the net of small meshes upon which the
embroidered pattern is applied; as, Brussels ground.
See {Brussels lace}, under {Brussels}.
6. (Etching) A gummy composition spread over the surface of a
metal to be etched, to prevent the acid from eating except
where an opening is made by the needle.
7. (Arch.) One of the pieces of wood, flush with the
plastering, to which moldings, etc., are attached; --
usually in the plural.
Note: Grounds are usually put up first and the plastering
floated flush with them.
8. (Mus.)
(a) A composition in which the bass, consisting of a few
bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to
a varying melody.
(b) The tune on which descants are raised; the plain song.
--Moore (Encyc.).
On that ground I'll build a holy descant.
--Shak.
9. (Elec.) A conducting connection with the earth, whereby
the earth is made part of an electrical circuit.
10. pl. Sediment at the bottom of liquors or liquids; dregs;
lees; feces; as, coffee grounds.
11. The pit of a theater. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
{Ground angling}, angling with a weighted line without a
float.
{Ground annual} (Scots Law), an estate created in land by a
vassal who instead of selling his land outright reserves
an annual ground rent, which becomes a perpetual charge
upon the land.
{Ground ash}. (Bot.) See {Groutweed}.
{Ground bailiff} (Mining), a superintendent of mines.
--Simmonds.
{Ground bait}, bits of bread, boiled barley or worms, etc.,
thrown into the water to collect the fish, --Wallon.
{Ground bass} or {base} (Mus.), fundamental base; a
fundamental base continually repeated to a varied melody.
{Ground beetle} (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of
carnivorous beetles of the family {Carabid[ae]}, living
mostly in burrows or under stones, etc.
{Ground chamber}, a room on the ground floor.
{Ground cherry}. (Bot.)
(a) A genus ({Physalis}) of herbaceous plants having an
inflated calyx for a seed pod: esp., the strawberry
tomato ({P. Alkekengi}). See {Alkekengl}.
(b) A European shrub ({Prunus Cham[ae]cerasus}), with
small, very acid fruit.
{Ground cuckoo}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Chaparral cock}.
{Ground cypress}. (Bot.) See {Lavender cotton}.
{Ground dove} (Zo["o]l.), one of several small American
pigeons of the genus {Columbigallina}, esp. {C. passerina}
of the Southern United States, Mexico, etc. They live
chiefly on the ground.
{Ground fish} (Zo["o]l.), any fish which constantly lives on
the botton of the sea, as the sole, turbot, halibut.
{Ground floor}, the floor of a house most nearly on a level
with the ground; -- called also in America, but not in
England, the {first floor}.
{Ground form} (Gram.), the stem or basis of a word, to which
the other parts are added in declension or conjugation. It
is sometimes, but not always, the same as the root.