▪ I. bass, basse, n.1
(bæs)
Forms: 5 bace, 6 bas, 6–7 base, 7–9 basse, 9 bass.
[A phonetic corruption of barse, OE. bærs, another form of which was base n.5]
1. The Common Perch (Perca fluviatilis), or an allied freshwater species.
| [See barse, base n.5]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 20 Bace, fysche. 1586 Cogan Haven Health (1636) 164 Roch, Loch, Base, Smelt, are very wholesome fishes. 1801 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 140 Trout and perch, called by the Dutch name of barsch, or bass. 1866 Intell. Observ. No. 56. 101 Sticklebacks, perches, basses. |
b. black bass: a fish of the Perch family (Perca huro) found in Lake Huron.
| 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 432/1 The Black Bass.. one of best-flavoured fishes of that lake. 1881 Harper's Mag. Sept. 511 The much-prized black bass. |
2. A voracious marine fish (Labrax lupus) of the Perch family, common in European seas; called also Sea-wolf and Sea-dace. Also an allied species (Sea-bass) caught on the coasts of North America.
| 1530 Palsgr. 196/1 Bace, fysshe, ung bar. 1602 Carew Cornwall 106 b, Sucking Millet, swallowing Basse. 1611 Cotgr., Lubin, a base, or sea wolfe. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia vi. 237 There hath beene taken one thousand Bases at a draught. 1769 Pennant Zool. III. 213 The basse is a strong, active, and voracious fish. 1852 Kingsley Andromeda 394 Chasing the bass and the mullet. |
▪ II. bass, n.2
(bɑːs, -æ-)
Also 7 basse.
[phonetic corruption of bast n.1]
1. a. strictly. The inner bark of the lime or linden; sometimes applied loosely to any similar fibre, e.g. split rushes or straw.
| 1691 Worlidge Cider 54 Fit it aptly to the Stock, and bind it on with..Basse. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Bass..is a sort of long straw or rushes. 1825 R. Ward Tremaine I. xxix. 231 A soft bit of wood..bound with bass to the stem. |
b. attrib., as in bass-mat.
| 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Cabbage, Wrap..Bass-mat, etc. about the Roots. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. vii. iii. 368 Straw rope shoes and cloaks of bass-mat. |
c. A fibre obtained from the leaf-bases or leaf-stalks of certain palms, used in the manufacture of brushes, ropes, etc.; also the palm from which this fibre is obtained. Also Comb.: bass-broom (cf. bast n.1 1 b).
| 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 79 Bass Broom Maker. 1883 Cassell's Fam. Mag. 222/1 The coarse familiar bass-brooms. 1891 Kew Bulletin Jan. 3 (heading) Extract of Minute by the Governor of Lagos on the Bass fibre of the Bamboo palm (Raphia vinifera). Ibid., The ‘African Bass’ is..a stiff and wiry fibre, varying in colour from dark brown to light red. 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List p. xx, Bass Brooms. Ibid. 182 Bass Heads... Handles for Bass, each extra, 0/2. 1902 Hannan Textile Fibres Commerce 145 Bass, Monkey, or Grass, Leopoldinia Piassava or Para Piassava. |
2. The name given elliptically to various articles made of this or similar material; e.g. a mat, a hassock, a flat plaited bag or flexible basket.
| 1706 Phillips, Bass or Hassock, a kind of Cushion made of Straw, such as are us'd to kneel upon in Churches. Basse, a Collar for Cart-horses, made of Straw, Sedge, Rushes, etc., whence the Bass for kneeling in Churches. 1837 Howitt Rur. Life vi. xiii. (1862) 552 Carrying home a bass brimful of vegetables. 1861 Ramsay Remin. v. 118 You hear him..wipe his feet upon the bass. |
3. Building. ‘A short trough for holding mortar, when tiling the roof; it is hung to the lath.’ Nicholson Practical Builder 1823.
▪ III. † bass, n.3 Obs.
Also 5–6 basse, 6 bas.
[prob. f. bass v.1: cf. L. bāsium, Pr. bais, It. bacio, Sp. beso, kiss. The OF. equivalent *bais is not found, and its Eng. repr. would be beace (cf. OF. pais, Eng. peace). Cf. also buss.]
A kiss.
| c 1450 Crt. Love cxiv, If the basse ben full there is delight. a 1529 Skelton My Darling dere 9 With ba, ba, ba, and bas, bas, bas, She cheryshed hym both cheke and chyn. 1570 Play Wit & Sc. (1848) 13 Nay, Syr, as for basses, From hence none passes But as in gage Of mary-age. |
▪ IV. bass, n.4
(bɑːs, -æ-)
[? for bas- or base-coal, as in base coin.]
A miners' term for shale stained dark by vegetable matter. Cf. bat n.2 11.
| 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 131 Bass or freestone above, and Ironston, or earth, below. 1861 E. Hull Coal-fields Gt. Brit. 54 Some of the shales are so highly carbonaceous as to be nearly black, and form impure coal called ‘bass.’ |
▪ V. bass, a. and n.5
(beɪs)
Forms: 5–6 bas, 6 bace, Sc. bays, 6–7 basse, 6–9 base, 7– bass.
[ME. bas, base (see base a.) in specific senses in Music; now spelt bass after It. basso, but still pronounced as base. (Pope rimed base and ass.)]
A. adj.
† 1. Low in sound, barely audible, soft. Obs.
| c 1450 Merlin xxviii. 572 He seide in bas voice, ‘I am Monewall.’ 1513 Douglas æneis ix. vi. 28 With ane bays voce thus Nisus spak agane. |
2. Deep-sounding, low in the musical scale.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helth (1541) 51 Let him..begyne to synge lowder and lowder, but styl in a base voice. 1613 Bp. Hall Serm. v. 66 The trumpets..sounded basest and dolefullest at the last. 1626 Bacon Sylva §173 All base notes, or very treble notes, give an asper sound. 1866 Tyndall Glac. ii. §i. 226 Boys are chosen..to produce the shrill notes; men are chosen to produce the bass notes. |
3. a. [partly attrib. use of n.] Of, pertaining to, or suited to, the lowest part in harmonized musical composition.
bass voice: that ranging from E♭ below the bass stave to F above it. bass clef: the F clef, now placed on the fourth line from the bottom of the bass stave, formerly sometimes on the third, and earlier on the fifth.
| 1552 Huloet, Base synger, succentor. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 86 Base descant is that kinde of descanting where your sight of taking and vsing your cordes must be vnder the plainsong. 1880 in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 149/1 A bass voice is too..deficient in sweetness for single songs. |
b. Hence prefixed, sometimes with hyphen, to names of musical instruments or their strings, to indicate that they are of the lowest pitch. For bass clarinet, sax, tuba, see the ns.
| 1590 [see bass-viol]. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 6, I haue sounded the verie base string of humility. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. ii. 112 The Bass or fourth string is called G sol re ut. 1804 W. Bentley Diary (1911) III. 68 The instrument Music..consisted of the Bass Drum, Bassoon, Clarinet & flute. 1856 tr. Berlioz' Instrument. 152 The sound of the bass trombone is majestic. 1863 Hawthorne Old Home I. 248 Rain-drops..pattering on the bass-drum. 1880 in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 150/2 The Bass-flute requires a great deal of breath. 1884 G. W. Cable Dr. Sevier II. liv. 171 The soft boom of a bass-drum. |
B. n. [By some erroneously taken as derived from base n.1, foundation, with which it has etymologically no connexion.]
1. a. The lowest part in harmonized musical composition; the deepest male voice, or lowest tones of a musical instrument, which sing or sound this part. Cf. A. 3.
| ? a 1450 Songs & Carols (Wright) 67 Whan..bulles of the see syng a good bace. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 432 Mony trumpet into sindrie tune, Sum in bas and sum in alt abone. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 3 The Basse or lowest part. 165. Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 32 One of my new tunes that I have got Dr. Childe to set me a base to. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. xi. 49 The Bass for the Theorbo. 1706 A. Bedford Temple Mus. viii. 163 The Base usually closing in the Fifth above the Key. 1849 Marryat Valerie vi, The milkmaid's falsetto, and the dustman's bass. |
b. fig.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 405/2 Hys false translacion with their farther false construccion, they thoughte shoulde be the basse and the tenour, whereuppon they woulde synge the trouble, with muche false descant. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. Add. xv. 103 The goodman knew Christ's voice to be a low base of humility. 1870 M. Conway Earthw. Pilgr. vi. 94 Above the bass of Commerce is the clear tenor of Fraternity. |
2. One who sings the bass part.
| 1591 Spenser Tears of Muses 28 The..streames..were..taught to beare A Bases part amongst their consorts. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 45 Song-men..most of them Meanes and Bases. 1880 in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 148/2 The employment of basses and barytons in principal characters on the operatic stage. |
3. The bass string of a musical instrument.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 186 Which string in all the harpe wouldst thou styll harpe on. Not the base. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 5/2 Sound hoarse, sad lute..Sad treble weep; and you, dull basses, show Your masters sorrow in a doleful strain. a 1700 Dryden (J.) At thy well-sharpen'd thumb..The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar. |
4. a. A bass-viol.
| 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3819/8 For two Violins and a Bass. 1794 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Rowl. for Oliver Wks. II. 66 Watkyn..forbore his bass to seize. |
b. A double-bass.
| 1927 Melody Maker Sept. 926/3 The bass, being a rhythm instrument, must conform to the rhythm set by the rhythm section. 1962 Oxf. Mail 22 June 5/5 The rules allow competitors to use bass and drum accompaniment. |
5. thorough-bass (ellipt. bass): the bass part written with figures beneath it which indicate concisely but vaguely the kind of harmony to be played with it. Hence formerly, An accompaniment for harpsichord or organ; now, The theory or science of harmony. See also double-bass.
| 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. xi. 36 The Thorough-bass of Songs or Ayres. 1685 Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 223 She had an excellent voice, to which she played a thorough-bass on the harpsichord. 1706 in Lond. Gaz. No. 4249/3 With a Thorough-Bass to each Song. 1868 Ouseley Harmony iii. (1875) 29 Thorough-bass-figuring..is a kind of musical short-hand. |
Add: [B.] 6. The low-frequency component of (esp. transmitted or reproduced) sound. Freq. attrib.. Cf. *treble n. 8.
| 1930 Wireless World 26 Mar. 333/1 The tone control which emphasizes either treble or bass consists of a variable capacity between the input and output of the power valves.. 1936 Wireless World 28 Feb. 214 Bass and treble tone controls. 1957 Practical Wireless XXXIII. 706/1 Simple switched bass-boost and *top-cut compensation is provided by S1 and S2 respectively. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. iii. 66 For example, bass boost is secured by attenuation of the higher frequencies. 1988 V. Capel Audio & Hi-Fi Engineer's Pocket Bk. 42 To avoid loss of bass, a frequency-dependent phase-shifter progressively changes the relative phase until they [sc. the sounds] are in phase at the lowest frequency. |
▸ A bass guitar.
Although it is not certain exactly what instrument is referred to in quot. 1937, the contrast with the Bassoguitar (an upright bass) suggests it is prob. an electric bass guitar of the type now familiar, which became commercially available (on a very limited scale) at around this time.
| 1937 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 19 Sept. 6 c/5 Bassoguitar, $67.50. Electric bass with amplifier... Also 3 used electric guitars. 1952 Pottstown (Pa.) Mercury 18 Oct. 20 (advt.) Fender Precision Bass. A new sensation for bass players. 1970 Music Educators Jrnl. 56 15 (advt.) A new work..featuring optional electric guitars, including the electric bass. 1989 Toronto Star (Nexis) 17 Apr. c4 [Rutherford] came up in the world playing bass for an arty, prog-rock outfit. 2005 Uncut June 30/1 Romeo..plays guitar..while younger sister Michele plays bass and harmonises. |
▸ bass-baritone n.probably after German Bassbariton a singer who has the ranges of both a bass and a baritone; the voice of such a singer.
| 1869 Musical Times & Singing Class Circular 14 198/1 (advt.) Mr. George Vigay, *bass baritone vocalist, is open for engagements in town or country. 1917 C. Cooke Pract. Singing ii. 20 Though still partaking of the grave quality, the bass-baritone can use the frontale voice..up to C sharp. 2003 Time Out N.Y. 14 Aug. 125/2 He's still got the honey-dripping bass-baritone that astonishes everyone who hears it. |
▸ bass bin n. colloq. a large speaker cabinet containing loudspeakers designed to reproduce low-frequency sounds accurately, used esp. to enhance the bass sound at live music performances; cf. woofer n. 2.
| 1973 Lincoln (Nebraska) Star 14 Apr. 17/9 (advt.) Must sell—*bass bins for Fender bass or P.A. woofers. 1981 Winnipeg Free Press 1 Apr. (Classified section) 52/1 Gauss 5840 bass bin. 1992 Independent (Nexis) 8 Oct. 20 At heavy metal concerts fans have been known to stick their heads into the bass bins of the PA system. 2004 Village Voice 31 Mar. 12/4 The Quad installed extra bass bins just for the movie. |
▸ bass boost n. the enhancement of low-frequency sound in a recording or performance; a facility on sound equipment which provides this.
| 1938 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 17 Mar. 4 d (advt.) True *bass boost tone control. 1957 Pract. Wireless 33 706/1 Simple switched bass-boost and top-cut compensation is provided. 1969 Gramophone Apr. 1502/3 A small amount of bass boost gives a well balanced performance. 2001 Max Power Dec. 186/3 Additional features include line-out for daisy chaining amps..plus a bass boost. |
▸ bass guitar n. an instrument resembling a (large) standard guitar, but having the strings tuned to produce lower notes; (now) esp. a (usually electric) guitar with a long neck and four heavy strings tuned an octave below the lower strings on a standard guitar.
| 1871 Overland Monthly Dec. 520/1 Curious instruments are produced:..the bajo, or large *bass guitar. 1895 Daily News 22 May 7/3 Three mandolas (or mandoras), eighteen guitars..and a bass guitar. 1953 Melody Maker 31 Oct. 14/3 (advt.) Engagements wanted... Bass guitar/vocals. 1988 P. Manuel Pop. Musics Non-Western World (1990) iv. 115 An acoustic bass guitar, the baixo (with four strings tuned like the lower strings on a guitar). 2005 R. Nidel World Music: Basics v. 282 A more relaxed ska, where the guitar strums only on the 2 and 4 and the bass guitar emphasizes the 1 and 3 beats. |
▸ bass guitarist n. a person who plays the bass guitar.
| 1938 N.Y. Times 20 Feb. 10/1 The Ilima Islanders consist of Mr. Kalama, *bass guitarist..and Alexander Gullato, guitarist. 1965 Blues Unlimited Dec. 4 Taylor is probably the finest bass guitarist in the business. 2001 Guardian 19 Mar. i. 21/7 The bass guitarist was flanked by a drummer with a conventional kit and five other percussionists banging away. |
▸ bass-heavy adj. (of music, sound, etc.) characterized by an abundance or excess of bass frequencies or by a prominent bass line.
| 1939 Times 1 June 12/2 A well-considered balance of tone that was especially noticeable in the *bass-heavy chords of the last act. 1969 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 27 Oct. 28/3 The orchestral accompaniment was rich, with a full, even bass-heavy string tone. 1973 Gramophone Sept. 462/1 The stereo disc seemed bass-heavy with the piano too close. 2002 Time Out N.Y. 29 Aug. 143/4 The real centerpiece of Scarface's albums remains their bass-heavy beats. |
▸ bass reflex n. a design feature, consisting of a vent or port in an enclosed loudspeaker, by which the reproduction of low-frequency sound is enhanced by the sound waves emanating through the vent from within the speaker cabinet; chiefly attrib.
| 1940 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 53 334 It [sc. the loudspeaker] was mounted in a large baffle designed according to the *bass-reflex principle. 1979 A. V. Kneese & B. T. Bower Environmental Quality & Residuals Managem. iii. 50 Tonal quality..can be achieved by a small infinite baffle speaker and..a comparatively huge bass reflex. 2000 Edmonton Jrnl. (Nexis) 23 Nov. h4 [The] CTK-731 Electronic Keyboard is a music noodler's delight with its beefy bass reflex audio system. |
▪ VI. † bass, v.1 Obs.
Also 5–6 basse.
[cf. F. baise-r, baisier (11th c. in Littré):—L. bāsiā-re to kiss; cf. basiate.]
trans. and absol. To kiss.
| c 1500 Bk. Mayd Emlyn 26 One that yonge was, That coude ofte her basse. 1530 Calisto & Mel. in Hazl. Dodsl. I. 74 Thus they kiss and bass. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 57 He must nedes basse hir. 1570 in Levins. |
▪ VII. bass, v.2 nonce-wd.;
in 7 base.
[f. bass n.5]
To utter or proclaim with bass voice or sound.
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 99 The Thunder (That deepe and dreadful Organ-Pipe)..did base my Trespasse. |
▪ VIII. bass
obs. form of base n., a., v.