Etymology

based

B3A1S1E1D2

Today it means: Founded on; having a basis; often used in combining forms. Full definition →

English base ← Middle English base ← Old French base
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

based · adjective, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʷémtis
  3. Proto-Hellenic*gʷə́tis
  4. Ancient Greekβᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)
  5. Latinbasis
  6. Old Frenchbase
  7. Middle Englishbase
  8. Englishbase
  9. English todaybased

From base + -ed.

based · adjective, interjection2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*priHós
  3. Proto-Germanic*frijwaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*friu
  5. Old Englishfrēo
  6. Middle Englishfre
  7. Englishfree
  8. Proto-Indo-European*gʷem-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*gʷémtis
  10. Proto-Hellenic*gʷə́tis
  11. Ancient Greekβᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)
  12. Latinbasis
  13. Old Frenchbase
  14. Middle Englishbase
  15. Englishbase
  16. English(free)base
  17. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  18. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  19. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  20. Proto-Germanic*haubudą
  21. Old Englishhēafod
  22. Middle Englishheed
  23. Englishhead
  24. Englishbaseheadclip.
  25. Englishbase?
  26. Englishbasedinflu.
  27. English todaybased

A reference to freebase cocaine, via basehead. Coined by American rapper from California Lil B in 2010 to describe his lifestyle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.