basement
noun
Simple meaning
The lowermost portion of a structure partly or wholly below ground level.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
baysmuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbeɪsmənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
architecture
The lowermost portion of a structure partly or wholly below ground level; often used for storage
architecture
The ground floor facade or interior in Renaissance architecture
sportsinformal
Last place in a sports conference's standings.
Ellipsis of semi-basement, a floor mostly below grade
geology
A mass of igneous or metamorphic rock forming the foundation over which a platform of sedimentary rocks is laid.
architecture
A floor of a building below ground level.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The lowermost portion of a structure partly or wholly below ground level; often used for storage
Used this way, basement is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use basement
- “We store our holiday decorations and old toys in the basement.”
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: lowermost portion of a structure partly
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.