Syn. — Dishonorable; worthless; ignoble; low-minded; infamous; sordid; degraded. — Base, Vile, Mean.
These words, as expressing moral qualities, are here arranged in the order of their strength, the strongest
being placed first. Base marks a high degree of moral turpitude; vile and mean denote, in different
degrees, the want of what is valuable or worthy of esteem. What is base excites our abhorrence; what
is vile provokes our disgust or indignation; what is mean awakens contempt. Base is opposed to high-
minded; vile, to noble; mean, to liberal or generous. Ingratitude is base; sycophancy is vile; undue compliances
are mean.
Base
(Base), n. [F. base, L. basis, fr. Gr. ba`sis a stepping, step, a base, pedestal, fr. bai`nein to
go, step, akin to E. come. Cf. Basis, and see Come.]
1. The bottom of anything, considered as its support, or that on which something rests for support; the
foundation; as, the base of a statue. "The base of mighty mountains." Prescott.
2. Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing; the essential principle; a groundwork.
3. (Arch.) (a) The lower part of a wall, pier, or column, when treated as a separate feature, usually
in projection, or especially ornamented. (b) The lower part of a complete architectural design, as of a
monument; also, the lower part of any elaborate piece of furniture or decoration.
4. (Bot.) That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support.
5. (Chem.) The positive, or non-acid component of a salt; a substance which, combined with an acid,
neutralizes the latter and forms a salt; — applied also to the hydroxides of the positive elements or radicals,
and to certain organic bodies resembling them in their property of forming salts with acids.
6. (Pharmacy) The chief ingredient in a compound.
7. (Dyeing) A substance used as a mordant. Ure.
8. (Fort.) The exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which connects the salient angles of
two adjacent bastions.
9. (Geom.) The line or surface constituting that part of a figure on which it is supposed to stand.
10. (Math.) The number from which a mathematical table is constructed; as, the base of a system of
logarithms.
11. [See Base low.] A low, or deep, sound. (Mus.) (a) The lowest part; the deepest male voice. (b)
One who sings, or the instrument which plays, base. [Now commonly written bass.]
The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.
Dryden.
12. (Mil.) A place or tract of country, protected by fortifications, or by natural advantages, from which
the operations of an army proceed, forward movements are made, supplies are furnished, etc.
13. (Mil.) The smallest kind of cannon. [Obs.]
14. (Zoöl.) That part of an organ by which it is attached to another more central organ.
15. (Crystallog.) The basal plane of a crystal.
16. (Geol.) The ground mass of a rock, especially if not distinctly crystalline.
17. (Her.) The lower part of the field. See Escutcheon.
18. The housing of a horse. [Obs.]
