bas French · revision 16406

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1119|origins=la-lat bassus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ba/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /bɑ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): [bɔ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bas''' (feminine basse, masculine plural bas, feminine plural basses)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|bas]], [[inh|la-lat|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).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|1, 274a)^(Wiktionary) 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.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré reports a Celtic etymology that Diez had already refuted.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The noun “bas” “stocking” (about 1500) is short for “bas-de-chausses”, the lower part of the hose.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|basso]], [[oc|bas]], [[ca|baix]], [[es|bajo]] and [[pt|baixo]], English “base” “vile” comes from French.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in 1119, describing a position or a dimension of little height, ''teste basse'' is found about 1170.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==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''.^(DHLF 1992) 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.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ 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.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''Bas-bleu'' (1821) translates English ''blue-stocking'', from the literary circle of Mrs Montagu.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1119 – First record.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Teste basse''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 12th century – ''Bassesse''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1362 – ''Soubassement''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1500 – The noun ''bas'' “stocking”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1548 – Of low-lying regions.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1821 – ''Bas-bleu''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|low]], of little height or set low: ''une table basse'', ''marée basse''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a sound: low, deep; soft: ''à voix basse''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Low in rank, value or degree: ''bas prix''; morally [[m|en|base]], mean.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Late in a period: ''le Bas-Empire''; lower, of regions: ''la Basse-Normandie''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Low: ''voler bas''; quietly: ''parler bas'', ''là-bas'', over there, ''en bas'', below, downstairs.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The lower part of something: ''le bas de la page''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A [[m|en|stocking]]: ''bas de laine'', ''bas nylon''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bassement]]

+ * [[bassesse]]

+ * [[là-bas]]

+ * [[basse]]

+ * [[soubassement]]

+ * [[baisser]]

+ * [[abaisser]]

+ * [[bas-fond]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[basson]]

+ * [[en|base]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}