base Italian · revision 38127

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1304–1308, Dante|origins=grc βαίνω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈba.ze/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''base''' ''f'' (plural basi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|basa]], [[roa-oit|baxia]] and [[roa-oit|bazi]].^(TLIO) The variant ''basa'' was still used by Cellini, Vasari and Varchi.^(Prati 1951|118)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|basis|t=base, pedestal]], which Latin had taken as a technical term from [[grc|βάσις|tr=básis|t=step, gait; foot; base]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Greek noun comes from [[m|grc|βαίνω|tr=baínō|t=to go, to step]], a verb that could also mean “to stand firm, be set”.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Devoto describes the shift as going from “gait” to “foot” and finally to “support”.^(Devoto 1968|57)

+

+ The LEI finds a popular continuation of the Latin word only in northern Italian dialects, with senses such as “threshold” and “ruined house”; standard Italian has only the learned word.^(LEI|4, 1719)^(REW 1935) The same learned borrowing is [[fr|base]] (from about 1160), [[es|basa]] (1250) and later [[m|es|base]], and [[pt|base]].^(LEI|4, 1719)^(Nocentini 2010) The old variant [[m|roa-oit|basa]] was made by analogy with the many feminine nouns ending in that vowel.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Several uses came in through other languages.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) The chemical sense was proposed by the French chemist Guillaume-François Rouelle in 1774 and reached Italian through French.^(DEI|448)^(GDLI) The verb [[basare]] in its figurative sense “to found (an opinion)” is from [[fr|baser]], recorded from 1787, and [[basico]] in the sense “basic” follows [[en|basic]].^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|4, 1719) The sense in cosmetics also follows an English model, as does the baseball term.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Dante's ''Convivio'' (1304–1308), in geometry, for the face on which a solid figure rests.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|4, 1719) The TLIO's earliest text is a Pistoian document of 1322–1326, where the word means the support on which an object or a building stands.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In architecture the word named the support of a column or statue: Giovanni Gherardi da Prato, before 1446, describes a great vase standing on “a most graceful ''basa''”, and Annibal Caro writes of “the statue and the base” in 1551.^(DELI 1999) Palladio in 1570 calls the foundations “the base of the building”.^(DELI 1999) The figurative sense “principle, foundation” appears with Benedetto Varchi before 1565, and Giordano Bruno used it in 1584–1585 for the side of a polygon.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ From the 19th century the word gained technical and military senses: a ''base d'operazione'' is recorded in 1817, a naval base in 1923, an air base in 1936 and a space base in 1965, and soldiers of the Second World War spoke of “returning to base”.^(DELI 1999) The chemical sense dates from 1828 and the musical one, the lowest part of the harmony, from 1774.^(DELI 1999) In politics the ''base'' of a party, its ordinary members as against its leaders, is recorded from 1947, and a ''basista'' was first a member of a party current and then, in slang, the person who plans a crime.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In the 20th century it also came to mean the number raised to a power (1913), each of the bases in baseball (1930) and a cream put on the face before make-up (1966).^(DELI 1999) Used as an adjective it means “basic, fundamental” (1950) and, in commerce, the cheapest version of a product.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses ''base'' in geometry in the ''Convivio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1322–1326 – A Pistoian document has the word for the support of an object.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1446 – Giovanni Gherardi da Prato uses the form ''basa'' for the stand of a vase.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses it figuratively for a principle.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1774 – Giambattista Martini uses it in music, and Rouelle introduces the chemical sense in France.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|448)

+ * 1817 – ''Base d'operazione'' appears in military language.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1828 – The chemical sense is recorded in Italian.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1930 – The baseball sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1947 – ''La base'' is used for the rank and file of a party.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1966 – The cosmetic sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The lower part of an object or structure, on which it rests; [[m|en|base]], [[m|en|foot]], [[m|en|pedestal]]: ''La base della lampada è di marmo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The [[m|en|foundation]] of a theory, argument or belief: ''Il progetto poggia su una base solida di dati.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' The grounding someone has in a subject: ''Senza basi di algebra il corso è difficile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The main element or ingredient of something, ''a base di'' “made mainly of”: ''una salsa a base di pomodoro e basilico.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(geometry)'' The face of a solid or the side of a polygon on which it is thought to rest.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A place from which organized, especially military, operations start: ''base aerea'', ''base navale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The ordinary members of a party or union, as against the leadership.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A compound that forms a salt with an acid; an [[m|en|alkali]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The number raised to a power.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(cosmetics)'' A cream applied to the face before make-up.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(baseball)'' Each of the bases a runner must reach.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable)'' Basic, entry-level: ''Il modello base costa molto meno.''^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[basale]]

+ * [[basamento]]

+ * [[basare]]

+ * [[basicità]]

+ * [[basico]]

+ * [[basilare]]

+ * [[basista]]

+ * [[imbasare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|basis]]

+ * [[grc|βάσις|tr=básis]]

+ * [[fr|base]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two common phrases are ''in base a'' “according to, on the basis of” and ''di base'' “basic, fundamental”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}