bass
English
Alternative forms
- (noun): base (dated)
Pronunciation
- enPR: bās, IPA(key): /beɪs/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪs
- Homophone: base
Adjective
Translations
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Noun
bass (plural basses)
Examples (a bass voice singing a soprano part) | ||
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- A low spectrum of sound tones.
- Peter adjusted the equalizer on his audio equipment to emphasize the bass.
- A section of musical group that produces low-pitched sound, lower than the baritone and tenor.
- The conductor preferred to situate the bass in the middle rear, rather than to one side of the orchestra.
- One who sings in the bass range.
- Halfway through middle school, Edgar morphed from a soprano to a bass, much to the amazement and amusement of his fellow choristers.
- (music) An instrument that plays in the bass range, in particular a double bass, bass guitar, electric bass or bass synthesiser.
- The musician swung the bass over his head like an axe and smashed it into the amplifier, creating a discordant howl of noise.
- The clef sign that indicates that the pitch of the notes is below middle C; a bass clef.
- The score had been written without the treble and bass, but it was easy to pick out which was which based on the location of the notes on the staff.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
- acoustic bass
- acoustic bass guitar
- bass bar
- bass-bar
- bass bin
- bass boat
- bass bomb
- bass C
- bass clarinet
- bass clef
- bass cliff
- bass drop
- bass drum
- bass drummer
- bass fiddle
- bass fiddler
- bass guitar
- bass guitarist
- bass horn
- bassist
- bassless
- basslike
- bassline
- bassly
- bassman
- bass music
- bassness
- bass note
- bass recorder
- bass reflex
- bass-relief
- bass sax
- bass saxophone
- bass saxophonist
- bass staff
- bass trap
- bass trombone
- bass viol
- bass violin
- bass violinist
- bass-violist
- bass violist
- basswork
- bassy
- booty bass
- concert bass drum
- doghouse bass
- double bass
- double-bass
- drill and bass
- drill 'n' bass
- drum and bass
- drum 'n' bass
- electric bass
- figured bass
- great bass
- great bass recorder
- ground bass
- hyperbass flute
- keyboard bass
- Miami bass
- midbass
- midtempo bass
- murky bass
- octobass
- play someone like a bass fiddle
- slap bass
- stand-up bass
- stride bass
- string bass
- sub-bass
- synthbass
- tea chest bass
- upright bass
- walking bass
- washtub bass
- wobble bass
Translations
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Verb
bass (third-person singular simple present basses, present participle bassing, simple past and past participle bassed)
- To sound in a deep tone.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], lines 99-99:
- […] and the Thunder
(That deepe and dreadfull Organ-Pipe) pronounc'd
The name of Proſper : it did baſe my Treſpaſſe
Etymology 2
From Middle English bace, bas, alteration of bars, from Old English bærs (“a fish, perch”), from Proto-West Germanic *bars, from Proto-Germanic *barsaz (“perch”, literally “prickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰórsos (“prickle, thorn, scale”). Cognate with Dutch baars (“perch, bass”), German Barsch (“perch”). More at barse.
Alternative forms
- basse (archaic)
Pronunciation
- enPR: băs, IPA(key): /bæs/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æs
- Homophone: Bass
Noun
bass (countable and uncountable, plural basses or bass)
- The perch; any of various marine and freshwater fish resembling the perch, all within the order of Perciformes.
Derived terms
- basslet
- black bass (Micropterus spp.)
- largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
- peacock bass
- sea bass
- smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
- spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus)
- striped bass (Morone saxatilis)
- white bass (Morone chrysops)
- Chilean sea bass
- European sea bass
- calico bass
- Otsego bass
- channel bass
- grass bass
- kelp bass
- rock bass
- spottail bass
Translations
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Etymology 3
A corruption of bast.
Pronunciation
- enPR: băs, IPA(key): /bæs/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æs
Noun
bass (countable and uncountable, plural basses)
- The fibrous inner bark of the linden or lime tree, used for making mats.
- Fibers from other plants, especially palm trees
- Anything made from such fibers, such as a hassock, basket or thick mat.
- [1865, William Stott Banks, A List of Provincial Words in use at Wakefield in Yorkshire, Wakefield: J.R.Smith, page 6:
- BASS, 1, a door mat]
- 1982 [1980], J L Carr, A Month in the Country, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books/Harvester Press, →ISBN, page 2:
- I set off half-heartedly, as best I could sheltering my spare clothes (which were in the straw fish-bass) under my coat. […] The rain made a channel from my trilby down my neck and one handle of the fish-bass gave way.
Derived terms
Cimbrian
German
Etymology
Former comparative of wohl.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [bas]
Audio (file)
Usage notes
This word is primarily used in the collocations bass erstaunt/basses Erstaunen.
Declension
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
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masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist bass | sie ist bass | es ist bass | sie sind bass | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | basser | basse | basses | basse |
genitive | bassen | basser | bassen | basser | |
dative | bassem | basser | bassem | bassen | |
accusative | bassen | basse | basses | basse | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der basse | die basse | das basse | die bassen |
genitive | des bassen | der bassen | des bassen | der bassen | |
dative | dem bassen | der bassen | dem bassen | den bassen | |
accusative | den bassen | die basse | das basse | die bassen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein basser | eine basse | ein basses | (keine) bassen |
genitive | eines bassen | einer bassen | eines bassen | (keiner) bassen | |
dative | einem bassen | einer bassen | einem bassen | (keinen) bassen | |
accusative | einen bassen | eine basse | ein basses | (keine) bassen |
Kwama
Latvian
Etymology 2
From Proto-Balto-Slavic *basás, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós. Cognate with Lithuanian basas, Russian босо́й (bosój), English bare.
Declension
masculine (vīriešu dzimte) | feminine (sieviešu dzimte) | ||||||||
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singular (vienskaitlis) |
plural (daudzskaitlis) |
singular (vienskaitlis) |
plural (daudzskaitlis) | ||||||
nominative (nominatīvs) | bass | basi | basa | basas | |||||
accusative (akuzatīvs) | basu | basus | basu | basas | |||||
genitive (ģenitīvs) | basa | basu | basas | basu | |||||
dative (datīvs) | basam | basiem | basai | basām | |||||
instrumental (instrumentālis) | basu | basiem | basu | basām | |||||
locative (lokatīvs) | basā | basos | basā | basās | |||||
vocative (vokatīvs) | — | — | — | — | |||||
Synonyms
Luxembourgish
Maltese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bas/
Audio (Gozo) (file)
Etymology 1
Root |
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b-s-s |
2 terms |
Inherited from dialectal Arabic; compare Tunisian Arabic بص (baṣṣ, “to fart”).
Middle English
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
bass m (definite singular bassen, indefinite plural basser, definite plural bassene)
- (music) bass (musical range, person, instrument or group performing in the base range)
- (music) short for bassgitar (bass guitar) or kontrabass (double bass)
Derived terms
References
- “bass” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
bass m (definite singular bassen, indefinite plural bassar, definite plural bassane)
- (music) bass (musical range, person, instrument or group performing in the base range)
- (music) short for bassgitar (bass guitar) or kontrabass (double bass)
Derived terms
References
- “bass” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Romansch
Etymology
From Late Latin bassus.