BASE. (I) An adjective meaning low or deep, and, so, mean, worthless, or wicked (Fr. bas, Late Lat. bassos, low) . (2) A term for a foundation or starting point, used in various senses; (Gr. 1311.crcs "stepping," and so a foundation or pedestal) ; in sports, as in baseball; in geometry (q.v.), the line or face on which a figure or solid stands; in crystallography (q.v.), as in "basal plane"; in surveying (q.v.), in the "base line," an accurately measured dis tance between the points from which the survey is conducted; in heraldry (q.v.), in the phrase "in base," applied to any figure or emblem placed in the lowest part of a shield. In chemistry (q.v.), the term denotes a substance which combines with an acid to form a salt (see ALKALI).
Base, in architecture, the lowest visible member of a column or pier. On it the shaft rests. Originally, when wooden posts were commonly used, the base served the function of keeping the wood away from the floor or ground and distributing its weight over a large foundation, thus increasing the stability of the whole. In masonry columns it similarly spreads the load. Although the base is rigidly simple in Egyptian work, and is missing in the Greek doric order normally, it is, elsewhere, universally moulded or otherwise decorated. A base course or ground table is a similar projecting feature, running around the bottom of a wall.
In military language, it is the locality where main depots of supplies, ammunition, war material and reinforcements of per sonnel are established, and where a line of communication with the field army originates. An "advanced base" is the locality in which are situated the advanced depots of ammunition, supplies and other stores which form a link between the base and the fighting troops, and from which issues are made direct to forma tions, field depots and dumps.