bas

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ba/^[1]
• IPA: /bɑ/^[1]
• IPA (Canada): [bɔ]^[1]

Forms

bas (feminine basse, masculine plural bas, feminine plural basses)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bas, inherited from Late Latin bassus, known in classical Latin only as a surname (“Bassus”), then in Late Latin meaning “fat, stout” (early 6th century), “short” and “low” (7th–8th centuries).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Its origin is obscure, perhaps Oscan, since the first people to bear the name came from Campania; a link with the Greek surname “Bassos”, proposed by Guiraud, is rejected by Chantraine.^[2][4] Littré reports a Celtic etymology that Diez had already refuted.^[6]

The noun “bas” “stocking” (about 1500) is short for “bas-de-chausses”, the lower part of the hose.^[4][3][7]

Cognate with Italian basso, Occitan bas, Catalan baix, Spanish bajo and Portuguese baixo, English “base” “vile” comes from French.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1119, describing a position or a dimension of little height, teste basse is found about 1170.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In geography it describes low-lying regions and their people (1548), as Basse-Normandie or Quebec's Bas-Canada (1791–1841); some names were later changed because of its slighting tone, as Loire-Inférieure.^[2] It came to mean “low in rank, value or moral worth” (bassesse, 12th century), and of time “late” (1130), as in Bas-Empire (1690); en bas meant both “below” and “in a low voice” about 1165.^[2][3]

The noun bas “stocking” spread to many dialects, though chausse is still usual in a large part of them, bas de laine, the woollen stocking in which peasants were said to keep their savings, came to mean savings.^[3][7] Bas-bleu (1821) translates English blue-stocking, from the literary circle of Mrs Montagu.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1119 – First record.^[4][2]
• c. 1170 – Teste basse.^[2]
• 12th century – Bassesse.^[3]
• 1362 – Soubassement.^[3]
• c. 1500 – The noun bas “stocking”.^[3][4]
• 1548 – Of low-lying regions.^[2]
• 1821 – Bas-bleu.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. low, of little height or set low: une table basse, marée basse.^[7][1]
2. Of a sound: low, deep; soft: à voix basse.^[2]
3. Low in rank, value or degree: bas prix; morally base, mean.^[2]
4. Late in a period: le Bas-Empire; lower, of regions: la Basse-Normandie.^[2]

Adverb

1. Low: voler bas; quietly: parler bas, là-bas, over there, en bas, below, downstairs.^[7][2]

Noun

1. The lower part of something: le bas de la page.^[7]
2. A stocking: bas de laine, bas nylon.^[7][1]

Word family

• bassement
• bassesse
• là-bas
• basse
• soubassement
• baisser
• abaisser
• bas-fond

Related words

• basson
• English base

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 274a
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert