Bass Meaning
/beɪs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.
nounA low spectrum of sound tones.
Sentence Examples
She likes that bass.
If you've got time to play around on an acoustic guitar, practice your bass!
He always plays his stereo with the bass turned right up.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The deep sound of the ____ guitar vibrated through the entire concert hall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He plays the double ____ in the local jazz band every Friday night.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)bor. Latin basis Old French basebor. Middle English base English base ▲ Italian bassoinflu. English bass A respelling of base under the influence of Italian basso (“low”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] and the Thunder / (That deepe and dreadfull Organ-Pipe) pronounc'd / The name of Proſper : it did baſe my Treſpaſſe"
— 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], lines 99-99:
"BASS, 1, a door mat"
— [1865, William Stott Banks, A List of Provincial Words in use at Wakefield in Yorkshire, Wakefield: J.R.Smith, page 6:
"I set off half-heartedly, as best I could sheltering my spare clothes (which were in the straw fish-bass) under my coat. […] The rain made a channel from my trilby down my neck and one handle of the fish-bass gave way."
— 1982 [1980], J. L. Carr, A Month in the Country, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books/Harvester Press, →ISBN, page 2:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The deep sound of the ____ guitar vibrated through the entire concert hall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He plays the double ____ in the local jazz band every Friday night.