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BASE
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BASE . (1) (Fr. bas, See also:Late See also:Lat. See also:bassus, See also:low; cf. Gr. f3aCbs) an See also:adjective meaning low or deep, and so mean, worthless, or wicked. This sense of the word has sometimes affected the next, which is really distinct. (2) (Gr. Saves, strictly "stepping," and so a See also:foundation or See also:pedestal) a See also:term for a foundation or starting point, used in various senses; in See also:sports, e.g. See also:hockey and baseball; in See also:geometry, the See also:line or See also:face on which a figure or solid stands; in See also:crystallography, e.g. " basal See also:plane "; in See also:surveying, in the " base line," an accurately measured distance between the points from which the survey is conducted; in See also:heraldry, in the phrase " in base," applied to any figure or See also:emblem placed in the lowest See also:part of a See also:shield.
In See also:chemistry the term denotes a substance which combines with an See also:acid to See also:form a See also:salt. In inorganic chemistry such compounds are almost invariably oxides or hydroxides, and See also:water is eliminated during the See also:combination; but in organic chemistry many compounds exist, especially See also:ammonia derivatives, which directly combine with acids. Chemical bases are consequently antithetical to acids; and an acid is neutralized by a base with the See also:production of a salt. They See also:reverse certain See also:colour reactions of acids, e.g. turn red See also:litmus See also:blue; this is termed an " alkaline reaction."
In See also:architecture the " base " is the lowest member of a See also:column or See also:shaft. In See also:Egyptian and See also:Greek architecture it is the raised slab in See also: Afterwards it was always reproduced in See also:Egypt, even although the column, being in stone, no longer required it; a See also:custom probably retained because, being of a much larger circumference than the See also:lower part of the column, it gave increased stability. In See also:Assyrian architecture, where it served to carry wooden posts or columns, it took the form of a large See also:torus moulding with enrichments. In See also:Persian architecture the base was much higher than in any other See also:style, and was elaborately carved. In primitive Greek See also:work the base consisted of the stone See also:plinth as found in See also:Crete and See also:Tiryns, and of three small steps at See also:Mycenae. In archaic Greek work it has already disappeared in the Doric See also:order, but in the Ionic and Corinthian orders it is more or less richly moulded, the most elaborate examples being those found in the See also:temple of See also:Apollo at Branchidae in Milesia. For the See also:contour of the See also:mouldings see ORDERS. The See also:Roman orders all have the favourite See also:design known as the See also:Attic base. Romanesque bases were See also:rude but vigorous copies of the old classic base, and were often decorated with projections or spurs (Fr. grijfes) at the angles of the square See also:dies, thus connecting them with the square base. In the See also:Early Englishstyle, these spurs followed the conventional design of the See also:period, and about the same See also:time the mouldings were deeply sunk and occasionally cut downwards, so that they would have held water if used externally. Later, the base becomes less bold in treatment, but much more complex in its contours, and in the 15th See also:century is given an unusual height with two stages, the lower one constituting a See also:kind of plinth, which is sometimes known as the ground table, or the base course. A Bast See also:COURT (Fr. basse tour, i.e. the lower court), is the first open space within the See also:gates of a See also:castle. It was used for exercising See also:cavalry, and keeping live stock during a See also:siege. (See See also:ENCEINTE). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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