base rate

American  

noun

1. the rate of pay per unit of time, as by the hour, or per piece, or for work performed at an established standard rate.

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base rate British  

noun

1. the rate of interest used by individual commercial banks as a basis for their lending rates

2. informal the rate at which the Bank of England lends to the discount houses, which effectively controls the interest rates charged throughout the banking system

3. statistics the average number of times an event occurs divided by the average number of times on which it might occur

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Etymology

Origin of base rate

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

At its previous rate-setting meeting, the seven-member BOK policy board unanimously decided to hold the base rate steady.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Markets are closely watching the bank for any signs of a shift toward a more hawkish policy stance after it kept its base rate unchanged at 2.50% for a seventh straight meeting in April.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Annie Duke: The starting point is what I call the base rate.

From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026

Portfolio yields—and profit coverage of dividend payouts—slipped more steeply, because the base rate underlying the floating-rate loans dropped as the Fed eased interest rates.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

Their counterparts today are paid a monthly base rate of $592 and $800.

From The Civil War Centennial Handbook by Price, William H.