basis
noun
Simple meaning
A starting point, base or foundation for an argument or hypothesis.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
baysuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbeɪsəs
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
A starting point, base or foundation for an argument or hypothesis.
A physical base or foundation.
An underlying condition or circumstance.
A regular frequency.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A starting point, base or foundation for an argument or hypothesis.
Used this way, basis 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 basis
- “The whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture.”noun
- “The basis of this drink is orange juice.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A method of accounting in which each item is entered as it is earned or incurred regardless of when actual payments are received or made.
In a regular manner.
Apart from others.
In an irregular manner.
A method of accounting in which each item is entered as payments are received or made.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Pertaining to or constituting a base or basis.
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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.