bază

Forms

bază f (plural baze)^[1] Older forms were vas (plural vasuri), vasis and basis;^[2][3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 has both basă and bază.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French base, from Latin basis (“pedestal, base”), from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis, “step, base”).^[2][4][5][1] The older Romanian forms had other sources: ⟨vas⟩ and ⟨vasis⟩ are from Modern Greek βάσις (vásis), ⟨basis⟩ from Latin.^[2][6] The Greek noun is formed on βαίνω (baínō, “to walk, step”).^[2][1] DEX traces the sense “economic base” to Russian.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică of 1705, in the Greek form vas, plural vasuri, for the base of a column.^[2] The Latin form basis follows in Văcărescu's grammar of 1787, and vasis is found in a document of 1745.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From the concrete sense, the part that bears a building or an object, the word took on the senses of geometry and chemistry with the scientific vocabulary of the 19th century: the side of a figure opposite its apex, and a substance that forms a salt with an acid.^[3][5] The figurative sense, the foundation or principle of something, was there from the 19th century as well;^[3] Negulici gives morality as the basis of happiness.^[3] Eminescu wrote „În noi totul e spoială, totu-i lustru fără bază” “in us all is veneer, all gloss without foundation”.^[6]

It also came to mean a place where supplies, people or troops are gathered, as in bază aeriană “air base”, and the economic base of Marxist theory.^[5][2] Dimitrescu records bază de date “database” among the recent coinages.^[7]

Timeline

• 1705 – vasuri “bases (of columns)” in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică, the first record.^[2]
• 1745 – vasis in a document.^[2]
• 1787 – basis in Văcărescu's grammar.^[2][6]
• 1848 – basă, bază in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[3]
• 1852 – the verb baza and the adjective bazic.^[2]
• 1872 – bază in Constantin Negruzzi's works, MDA2's first record.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A base: the part that supports a body, a building or a structure; a foundation.^[5][8][1]
2. (geometry) The side of a triangle or polygon, or the face of a solid, on which it is taken to stand.^[5][8]
3. (figurative) The basis of something, its essential element: de bază “basic”, fără bază “groundless”, pe baza “on the basis of”.^[5][1]
4. The economic base: the whole of the relations of production at a stage of social development.^[5][8]
5. A place where people, supplies or troops are gathered as a starting point: bază navală “naval base”, bază sportivă “sports ground”.^[5]
6. (chemistry) A substance that forms a salt with an acid.^[5][9]

Word family

• autobază

Related words

• baza
• bazic
• French base

Usage notes

Common phrases are a pune bazele “to lay the foundations of” and a avea la bază “to be based on”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. bază
3. ^ a b c d e f Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. bază
4. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. bază
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 92
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. bază
7. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. bază
8. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 171
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 156