base

Forms

base f (plural bases)^[1] The 14th century has basa, and the 16th the learned Latin form basis.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin basis (“base, pedestal”), a learned word, which is from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis, “a stepping; step, foot; base, pedestal”).^[2][3][4][1] Nascentes and Aurélio give the Greek sense as “sole of the foot”.^[5][6] The Latin word was itself taken from Greek.^[7][1] The Greek noun belongs to the family of βαίνω (baínō, “to walk”), from a root that the DHLF gives as Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-.^[8]

The same Latin word is French base and Spanish base;^[8][9] Spanish also has basa.^[8][9] Houaiss notes that the Greco-Latin sense passed into the language of architecture, sculpture, mathematics, music and botany, and that the French chemist Guillaume François Rouelle was the first to use it in chemistry.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is basa in the 14th century, in Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.^[2][3] The learned basis appears in the 16th century, in a passage on the houses of the Zodiac in the Eufrosina, and the form base in 1601, in B. Teixeira's Prosopopeia, figuratively: Estriba, como em base só fortíssimo “it rests, as on a single very strong base”.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the architectural sense, the lower part of a column on which the shaft rests, to 1572.^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it so, adds the base of a statue and of a triangle, and records a pharmaceutical sense, the main ingredient of a medicine.^[10] Morais (1789) adds the chemical sense, the body that a solvent combines with.^[11] Vieira (1871–1874) describes the general sense, whatever supports a body above it, and the figurative one, a fundamental principle.^[12]

Modern dictionaries add a first coat of paint or make-up (base para maquilagem), the road-building sense (dated by Houaiss to 1952), and many technical senses in electronics, linguistics and mathematics.^[2][13] The Portuguese Wiktionary also gives the sense “headquarters”.^[14]

Timeline

• 14th century – basa.^[2][3]
• 16th century – the learned form basis in the Eufrosina.^[4]
• 1572 – the architectural sense “base of a column”.^[2]
• 1601 – base in B. Teixeira's Prosopopeia.^[4][3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the senses in architecture, geometry and pharmacy.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais adds the chemical sense.^[11]
• 1858 – first record of the verb basear.^[3]
• 1952 – the road-building sense.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Whatever serves as a support; the lower part of a thing, on which it rests: a base de uma torre.^[2][6][1]
2. (architecture) The lower part of a column, on which the shaft rests; a pedestal; a foundation.^[2][15]
3. A first coat of paint or other material, over which a finish is applied;^[2][13][1] (cosmetics) foundation cream.^[2][13][1]
4. (figurative) The essential part of something; a basis, principle, origin.^[2][16][1]
5. The knowledge or data on which an opinion rests; a premise.^[2]
6. The main ingredient of a mixture: o cacau é a base deste doce.^[2][17]
7. (anatomy, botany) The part of an organ nearest its point of attachment.^[2][18]
8. (geometry) The side of a figure or the face of a solid regarded as the bottom.^[2][17]
9. (mathematics) The number that defines a system of numeration or is raised to a power.^[16][17]
10. (chemistry) A base, a substance that combines with an acid to form a salt.^[16][1]
11. A place from which operations are directed; headquarters.^[14]

Word family

• basear
• embasar
• base de dados

Related words

• básico
• Latin basis
• Ancient Greek βάσις (básis)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. base
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. base
4. ^ a b c d e Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. base
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 64
6. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. base
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. basis
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. base
9. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. basis
10. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. base
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 171
12. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 1, 734
13. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1294
14. ^ a b Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org
15. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. base
16. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. base
17. ^ a b c Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. base
18. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. base