Based

How to spell based

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce based

What does based mean?

1. verbUsed with 'on' to mean built upon or derived from a particular source or evidence.
2. verbUsed with 'in' or 'at' to mean having a main place of operation or residence.

Based in a sentence

• The report was based on three years of sales data.

• The company is based in Manchester but sells worldwide.

• The film is loosely based on a true story.

• The consultant is based at home and travels to clients each week.

Where does based come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word rests on the noun 'base', which English took from Old French 'base' and ultimately from Latin 'basis', itself a direct borrowing of the Greek 'basis' meaning 'a stepping, a foundation, that on which one stands'. The Greek term came from the verb 'bainein', 'to step or to go', so the original image is of the firm ground beneath your feet. From the fourteenth century 'base' settled into English as the bottom or support of a thing, and the verb 'to base' (to found or rest something on a support) followed naturally. 'Based' is simply that verb plus the regular '-ed' ending, and because the silent 'e' of 'base' is dropped before '-ed', writers must remember the single 's' and the 'sed' that is pronounced like 'st'. The same Greek root still anchors the words 'basis', 'basic' and 'basement'.

How the word is built

• base (foundation, from Latin/Greek basis)
• -ed (past tense / adjective suffix)