basement
(ˈbeɪsmənt)
Also 8 bassment.
[f. base n.1 or v.2 + -ment; cf. F. soubassement.]
1. The lowest or fundamental portion of a structure. basement-membrane: a fine transparent layer lying between the epithelium and the fibrovascular layer of mucous membranes. basement complex Geol. (see quot. 1961).
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. Cont. 7 Establishing a solid Basement of Wood. 1843 J. E. Portlock Geol. 97 The..augitic rock which forms the basement of the promontory. 1847 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. III. 751/1 The cell-germs contained in this basement-membrane. 1897 W. B. Scott Introd. Geol. iv. xxi. 358 The Archaean includes the most ancient rocks, often spoken of as the ‘basement, or basal complex’. 1940 R. A. Daly Strength & Struct. of Earth i. 17 The average density of the Basement (Archean) Complex of each continent. 1961 J. Challinor Dict. Geol. 19/1 Basement complex, a regional mass of Archaean metamorphic crystalline rocks (gneisses and schists) and igneous intrusions on which lie veneers of obviously sedimentary rocks (of ages from the later Pre-Cambrian onwards)... ‘Fundamental complex’ may be said to be synonymous, and ‘Archaean’ is an equivalent name. |
2. fig. Groundwork; attrib. = fundamental.
| 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages ii. i, That Great Charter, the basement, at least, if not the foundation of our free constitution. 1829 I. Taylor Enthus. iii. (1867) 55 This belief constitutes the basement-principle of all religion. |
3. a. spec. The lowest storey (not a cellar) of a building, esp. when sunk below the general ground level.
| 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 389 There is a small Basement..under the lower Pilasters. 1823 Scott in Lockhart (1839) VII. 204 The under or sunk story—basement the learned call it. |
b. attrib.
| 1766 Entick Lond. IV. 360 The bassment story is very massy. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. 22 Down stairs to a little basement front door. 1917 T. S. Eliot Prufrock & other Observations 31 They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens. 1939 ― Old Possum's Pract. Cats 29 A small basement flat. 1962 J. G. Bennett Witness xv. 178 My wife and I had found a small basement flat in Bayswater. 1966 Listener 3 Feb. 176/2 A despondent servant-girl from the country in each basement kitchen. |
4. The action of basing; the state of being based; cf. debasement.
| 1836 G. Faber An Inquiry, etc. 579 Evinced by its actual basement upon the unhallowed principle, that nations, as such, ought, etc. |
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▸ Sport (orig. Baseball). The lowest (or a low) position in the rankings of a league or other grouping. Freq. attrib. Cf. cellar n.1 2c.
| 1911 Baseball Mag. Oct. 38/2 A large part of the summer has been spent fighting Toledo and Indianapolis for possession of the Association basement. 1958 Chicago Daily Tribune 4 Jan. ii. 1/1 The Minneapolis Lakers, basement team in the National Basketball association's western division,..had their hands full beating the fabled Harlem Globe Trotters. 1988 Western Mail (Gwent ed.) 8 Oct. 22/2 Cardiff City manager Frank Burrows wants his team to take a tougher line to help them climb out of the Third Division basement. 2001 World Soccer Mar. 14/2 Marc Grosjean parted company with Belgian League basement club La Louviere by mutual consent. |