English
basis
Basis comes from Latin basis ‘pedestal, base’, from Ancient Greek βάσις ‘stepping, step’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, step’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-1‘to come, step’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷémtis1‘step’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷə́tis2reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβάσις1básis‘stepping, step’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbasis1‘pedestal, foot, base’
- Englishearliest quotation 1907basis1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English basis
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek βάσις
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete: “We see here the ground-plan of masses of houses,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-Wiktionary, English basis‘to come, step’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷémtisWiktionary, English basis‘step’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷə́tisWiktionary, Ancient Greek βάσιςreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβάσιςWiktionary, English basisbásis‘stepping, step’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbasisWiktionary, English basis‘pedestal, foot, base’
- Englishearliest quotation 1907basisWiktionary, English basis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete: “We see here the ground-plan of masses of houses,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’
come, coming, event, revenue, convention, adventure, avenue, venue, diabetes, inventory, cum, convenience, advent, intervene, inventor, invent, souvenir, provenance, pug, convene, contravention, revenant, circumvention, contravene, quim, 50 more
through Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis
through Ancient Greek βάσις ‘stepping, step’
basset, bassoon, basso, debase, 6 more
through Latin basis ‘a pedestal, foot, base’
Today it means
noun A physical base or foundation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “basis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek βάσις. 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- / basis