n.
Pronunciation: ' b ā -s ə s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural ba · ses \ - ˌ s ē z \
Etymology: Latin ― more at BASE
Date: 14th century
1 : the bottom of something considered as its foundation
2 : the principal component of something
3 a : something on which something else is established or based b : an underlying condition or state of affairs <hired on a trial basis > <on a first-name basis >
4 : the basic principle
5 : a set of linearly independent vectors in a vector space such that any vector in the vector space can be expressed as a linear combination of them with appropriately chosen coefficients