Hypertext Webster Gateway: "basement"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Basement \Base"ment\, n. [F. soubassement. Of uncertain origin.
Cf. {Base}, a., {Bastion}.] (Arch.)
The outer wall of the ground story of a building, or of a
part of that story, when treated as a distinct substructure.
( See {Base}, n., 3
(a) .) Hence: The rooms of a ground floor, collectively.
{Basement membrane} (Anat.), a delicate membrane composed of
a single layer of flat cells, forming the substratum upon
which, in many organs, the epithelioid cells are disposed.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
basement
n 1: the lowermost portion of a structure partly or wholly below
ground level; often used for storage [syn: {cellar}]
2: the ground floor facade or interior in Renaissance
architecture
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