Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BASE, n. [Gr. βασις; L. basis; It. basa, base; Sp. basa; Fr. base; that which is set, the foundation or bottom.]

1. The bottom of any thing, considered as its support or the part of a thing on which it stands or rests; as, the base of a column, the pedestal of a statue, the foundation of a house, &c. In architecture, the base of a pillar properly, is that part which is between the top of a pedestal and the bottom of the shaft; but when there is no pedestal, it is the part between the bottom of the column and the plinth. Usually it consists of certain spires or circles. The pedestal also has its base. – Encyc.
2. In fortification, the exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which is drawn from the flanked angle of a bastion to the angle opposite to it.
3. In gunnery, the least sort of ordnance, the diameter of whose bore is 1 1/4 inch. – Encyc.
4. The part of any ornament which hangs down; as housings. – Sidney.
5. The broad part of any thing, as the bottom of a cone.
6. In old authors, stockings; armor for the legs. – Hudibras.
7. The place from which racers or tilters start; the bottom of the field; the career or starting post. – Dryden.
8. The lowest or gravest part in music; improperly written bass.
9. A rustic play, called also bays, or prison bars. – Shak.
10. In geometry, the lowest side of the perimeter of a figure. Any side of a triangle may be called its base, but this term most properly belongs to the side which is parallel to the horizon. In rectangled triangles, the base, properly, is the side opposite to the right angle. The base of a solid figure is that on which it stands. The base of a conic section is a right line in the hyperbola and parabola, arising from the common intersection of the secant plane and the base of the cone. – Encyc.
11. In chimistry, the electro-positive ingredient in a compound. Thus any alkaline or earthy substance, combining with an acid, forms a compound or salt, of which it is the base. Such salts, are called salts with alkaline or earthy bases.
12. Thorough base, in music, is the part performed with base viols or theorbos, while the voices sing and other instruments perform their parts, or during the intervals when the other parts stop. It is distinguished by figures over the notes.
13. Counter base is a second or double base, when there are several in the same concert. – Encyc.
14. In botany, the base of the fruit is the part where it is united with the peduncle. – Lindley.