English
basso
Basso comes from Italian basso ‘short (in height)’, and goes back to Latin bassus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbassus1‘short, low’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbasso1‘short (in height)’
- Englishtodaybasso1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English basso
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbassusWiktionary, English basso‘short, low’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbassoWiktionary, English basso‘short (in height)’
- EnglishtodaybassoWiktionary, English basso
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘step’
come, coming, event, revenue, convention, adventure, avenue, venue, diabetes, inventory, cum, convenience, advent, intervene, inventor, invent, provenance, souvenir, pug, convene, contravention, revenant, circumvention, contravene, quim, 52 more
through Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis ‘step’
through Ancient Greek βάσις ‘stepping, step’
through Latin bassus ‘short, low’
through Italian basso ‘short (in height)’
Today it means
noun A bass singer, especially in opera.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “basso”. 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 / Latin bassus / basso