βάσις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis, from the root *gʷem- (“step”). By surface analysis, βαίνω (baínō, “to walk, step”) +‎ -σῐς (-sis, nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bá.sis/ → /ˈβa.sis/ → /ˈva.sis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bá.sis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈba.sis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβa.sis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈva.sis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈva.sis/

Noun

βᾰ́σῐς • (básis) f (genitive βᾰ́σεως); third declension

1. stepping, step; (collective) steps
2. measured step or movement; rhythmical or metrical movement
   1. (rhetoric) rhythmical close of a sentence; clause forming transition from protasis to apodosis
   2. (prosody) metrical unit, monometer
3. foot, leg
4. base, pedestal; foundation, basement
   • 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 14.1.14:

     τρία Μύρωνος ἔργα κολοσσικὰ ἱδρυμένα ἐπὶ μιᾶς βάσεως

     of these, three of colossal size, the work of Myron, stood upon one base

5. (geometry) base of a solid or plane figure
6. position, fixedness

   Antonym: φορᾱ́ (phorā́)

7. (astrology) horoscope

   Synonym: ὡροσκόπος (hōroskópos)

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

Inflection

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ βᾰ́σῐς hē básis	τὼ βᾰ́σει tṑ básei	αἱ βᾰ́σεις hai báseis
Genitive	τῆς βᾰ́σεως tês báseōs	τοῖν βᾰσέοιν toîn baséoin	τῶν βᾰ́σεων tôn báseōn
Dative	τῇ βᾰ́σει têi básei	τοῖν βᾰσέοιν toîn baséoin	ταῖς βᾰ́σεσῐ / βᾰ́σεσῐν taîs básesi(n)
Accusative	τὴν βᾰ́σῐν tḕn básin	τὼ βᾰ́σει tṑ básei	τᾱ̀ς βᾰ́σεις tā̀s báseis
Vocative	βᾰ́σῐ bási	βᾰ́σει básei	βᾰ́σεις báseis
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ βᾰ́σῐς; τῆς βᾰ́σεως (Attic)

Derived terms

• ᾰ̓κρόβᾰσῐς (akróbasis)
• ᾰ̓μφῐ́βᾰσῐς (amphíbasis)
• ᾰ̓νάβᾰσῐς (anábasis)
• ᾰ̓ντῐ́βᾰσῐς (antíbasis)
• ᾰ̓πόβᾰσῐς (apóbasis)
• βᾰσείδῐον (baseídion)
• δῐᾰ́βᾰσῐς (diábasis)
• εἴσβᾰσῐς (eísbasis)
• ἔκβᾰσῐς (ékbasis)
• ἔμβᾰσῐς (émbasis)
• ἐπῐ́βᾰσῐς (epíbasis)
• κᾰτᾰ́βᾰσῐς (katábasis)
• λεοντόβᾰσῐς (leontóbasis)
• λῐθόβᾰσῐς (lithóbasis)
• μετᾰ́βᾰσῐς (metábasis)
• πᾰρᾰ́βᾰσῐς (parábasis)
• περῐ́βᾰσῐς (períbasis)
• πρόβᾰσῐς (próbasis)
• πρόσβᾰσῐς (prósbasis)
• σῠ́μβᾰσῐς (súmbasis)
• ῠ̔πέρβᾰσῐς (hupérbasis)
• ῠ̔πόβᾰσῐς (hupóbasis)

 

Descendants

βᾰ́σῐς

• Greek: βάση (vási)
• → Hebrew: בָּסִיס (basís)
• ⇒ Italian: abasia
• → Latin: basis (see there for further descendants)
• → Latin: bassus (perhaps) (see there for further descendants)

References

• “βάσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Further reading

• “βάσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• βάσις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• βάσις in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “βάσις”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G939 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • base idem, page 64.
  • bottom idem, page 90.
  • foot idem, page 333.
  • foot-step idem, page 334.
  • foundation idem, page 341.
  • movement idem, page 545.
  • pace idem, page 588.
  • stand idem, page 810.
  • step idem, page 815.
  • stride idem, page 825.
  • tramp idem, page 887.
  • tread idem, page 891.