English
abase
Abase comes from Old French abaissier ‘to lower, to reduce’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-1‘to come, to step’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400abaissier1‘to lower, to reduce’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600abaisser1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abaishen1
- Englishearliest quotation 1590abase1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English abase
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto II: “Her gracious words their rancour did appall, / And…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-Wiktionary, English abase‘to come, to step’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400abaissierWiktionary, English abase‘to lower, to reduce’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600abaisserWiktionary, English abase
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abaishenWiktionary, English abase
- Englishearliest quotation 1590abaseWiktionary, English abase. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto II: “Her gracious words their rancour did appall, / And…”
The story
From Late Middle English abaishen, abashen, abaisse, abassen, abesse, abessen (‘to be upset; to embarrass; to surprise; to confound; to bend down, stoop; to abase, degrade, disgrace’), from Middle French abaisser, from Old French abaissier, abessier (‘to prostrate oneself; to lower, reduce’) (also compare Old French esbahir (‘to amaze’), Vulgar Latin abbassiāre (‘to lower’)), from a- (prefix indicating movement towards something) (from Latin ad (‘toward, to’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (‘at, to’)) + baissier (‘to lower’) (from Medieval Latin bassus (‘short of stature, low; base’), possibly from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs, “foot; base, foundation”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (‘to step’)). The spelling of the English word has been influenced by base, thus ostensibly analyzable as a- (‘towards’) + base. There exist verb cognates in Gallo-Romance languages such as Catalan abaixar (‘lower; abase’) and Occitan abaissar, and similar word construction in other romance languages as Spanish abajo (‘down, downstairs; below’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’
come, coming, event, revenue, convention, adventure, avenue, basic, venue, basis, inventory, cum, convenience, diabetes, advent, intervene, bass, inventor, invent, souvenir, bases, provenance, pug, convene, contravention, revenant, circumvention, contravene, quim, debase, 53 more
Today it means
verb To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “abase”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- / abase