basis
- the bottom or base of anything; the part on which something stands or rests.
- anything upon which something is based; fundamental principle; groundwork.
- the principal constituent; fundamental ingredient.
- a basic fact, amount, standard, etc., used in making computations, reaching conclusions, or the like: The nurse is paid on an hourly basis. He was chosen on the basis of his college grades.
- Mathematics. a set of linearly independent elements of a given vector space having the property that every element of the space can be written as a linear combination of the elements of the set.
Origin of basis
Synonym study
Related Words for basis
support, footing, base, ground, justification, theory, fundamental, evidence, reason, assumption, principle, premise, essential, security, explanation, proof, bottom, groundwork, bed, seatExamples from the Web for basis
Contemporary Examples of basis
If Congress accurately reflected our nation on the basis of race, about 63 percent would be white, not 80 percent.
We see the Southern segregationists who threatened his life and that of his family on an almost daily basis.
So, I can deal with them on a daily basis, I know how it affects my body.
We also knew that once we hit the road, we would be paying our band and crew on a weekly basis.
I knew: Nuclear Armageddon was staring me in the face on a daily basis.
Historical Examples of basis
It is also much used as a basis for numerous other dressings.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
So, with Sidney the basis of his happiness, he made the most of his evening's freedom.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
He was not certain that the boy's statement had any basis in fact.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
You must have a good glider as the basis of a successful flying machine.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
There is no religion in the world that has any other basis than hearsay evidence.
The Devil's DictionaryAmbrose Bierce
basis
- something that underlies, supports, or is essential to something else, esp an abstract idea
- a principle on which something depends or from which something has issued
- maths (of a vector space) a maximal set of linearly independent vectors, in terms of which all the elements of the space are uniquely expressible, and the number of which is the dimension of the spacethe vectors x, y and z form a basis of the 3-dimensional space all members of which can be written as a x + b y + c z
Word Origin for basis
Word Origin and History for basis
1570s, "bottom or foundation (of something material)," from Latin basis "foundation," from Greek basis "a step, stand, base, that whereon one stands," from bainein "go, step" (see come). Transferred and figurative senses (of immaterial things) are from c.1600.
basis
(bā′sĭs)- The foundation upon which something, such as an anatomical part, rests.
basis
- A set of independent vectors whose linear combinations define a vector space, such as a reference frame used to establish a coordinate system.
Idioms and Phrases with basis
basis
see on a first-name basis.