bass

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The low range of sound or musical tones.

   He turned up the bass until the whole room shook.

2. 2
   adj

   Low in pitch, said of a sound, voice, or instrument.

   The giant spoke in a deep, bass voice that shook the floor.

3. 3
   noun

   A large stringed or electric instrument that plays low notes, such as a bass guitar or double bass.

   She plays bass in a local rock band.

4. 4
   noun

   A man who sings in the lowest voice range.

   In the choir, he sings bass alongside three other low voices.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

The musical word bass entered English in the late Middle English period and comes from the same source as the old-fashioned adjective base meaning “low” or “ignoble”: Latin bassus, meaning “short.”

From Middle English bace, bas, alteration of bars, from Old English bærs (“a fish, perch”), from Proto-West Germanic *bars, from Proto-Germanic *barsaz (“perch”, literally “prickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰórsos (“prickle, thorn, scale”). Cognate with Dutch baars (“perch, bass”), German Barsch (“perch”). More at barse.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary