Adjacent Words

basic definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: pertaining to or constituting a base or basis; "a basic fact"; "the basic ingredients"; "basic changes in public opinion occur because of changes in priorities" [ant: incident, incidental]
2: reduced to the simplest and most significant form possible without loss of generality; "a basic story line"; "a canonical syllable pattern" [syn: basic, canonic, canonical]
3: serving as a base or starting point; "a basic course in Russian"; "basic training for raw recruits"; "a set of basic tools"; "an introductory art course" [syn: basic, introductory]
4: of or denoting or of the nature of or containing a base n
1: a popular programming language that is relatively easy to learn; an acronym for beginner's all-purpose symbolic instruction code; no longer in general use
2: (usually plural) a necessary commodity for which demand is constant [syn: basic, staple]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code Date: 1964 a simplified high-level language for programming a computer

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: 1842 1. a. of, relating to, or forming the base or essence ; fundamental <basic truths> b. concerned with fundamental scientific principles ; not applied <basic research> 2. constituting or serving as the basis or starting point <a basic set of tools> 3. a. of, relating to, containing, or having the character of a chemical base b. having an alkaline reaction 4. containing relatively little silica <basic rocks> 5. relating to, made by, used in, or being a process of making steel done in a furnace lined with basic material and under basic slag • basicity noun II. noun Date: 1926 1. something that is basic ; fundamental <get back to basics> 2. basic training

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a computer programming language using familiar English words, designed for beginners and widely used on microcomputers. Etymology: Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 forming or serving as a base. 2 fundamental. 3 a simplest or lowest in level (basic pay; basic requirements). b vulgar (basic humour). 4 Chem. having the properties of or containing a base. 5 Geol. (of volcanic rocks etc.) having less than 50 per cent silica. 6 Metallurgy of or produced in a furnace etc. which is made of a basic material. --n. (usu. in pl.) the fundamental facts or principles. Phrases and idioms: basic dye a dye consisting of salts of organic bases. Basic English a simplified form of English limited to 850 selected words intended for international communication. basic industry an industry of fundamental economic importance. basic slag fertilizer containing phosphates formed as a by-product during steel manufacture. basic wage Austral. & NZ the minimum living wage, fixed by industrial tribunal. Derivatives: basically adv. Etymology: BASE(1) + -IC

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Basic Ba"sic, a. 1. (Chem.) (a) Relating to a base; performing the office of a base in a salt. (b) Having the base in excess, or the amount of the base atomically greater than that of the acid, or exceeding in proportion that of the related neutral salt. (c) Apparently alkaline, as certain normal salts which exhibit alkaline reactions with test paper. 2. (Min.) Said of crystalline rocks which contain a relatively low percentage of silica, as basalt. Basic salt (Chem.), a salt formed from a base or hydroxide by the partial replacement of its hydrogen by a negative or acid element or radical.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use basic to describe things, activities, and principles that are very important or necessary, and on which others depend. One of the most basic requirements for any form of angling is a sharp hook. ...the basic skills of reading, writing and communicating. ...the basic laws of physics... Access to justice is a basic right. = fundamental ADJ: usu ADJ n 2. Basic goods and services are very simple ones which every human being needs. You can also refer to people's basic needs for such goods and services. ...shortages of even the most basic foodstuffs... Hospitals lack even basic drugs for surgical operations. ...the basic needs of food and water. ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. If one thing is basic to another, it is absolutely necessary to it, and the second thing cannot exist, succeed, or be imagined without it. ...an oily liquid, basic to the manufacture of a host of other chemical substances... There are certain ethical principles that are basic to all the great religions. = central ADJ: v-link ADJ to n 4. You can use basic to emphasize that you are referring to what you consider to be the most important aspect of a situation, and that you are not concerned with less important details. There are three basic types of tea... The basic design changed little from that patented by Edison more than 100 years ago... The basic point is that sanctions cannot be counted on to produce a sure result. = fundamental ADJ: ADJ n [emphasis] 5. You can use basic to describe something that is very simple in style and has only the most necessary features, without any luxuries. We provide 2-person tents and basic cooking and camping equipment. ...the extremely basic hotel room. ADJ 6. Basic is used to describe a price or someone's income when this does not include any additional amounts. ...an increase of more than twenty per cent on the basic pay of a typical coalface worker... The basic price for a 10-minute call is only £2.49. ADJ: ADJ n 7. The basic rate of income tax is the lowest or most common rate, which applies to people who earn average incomes. All this is to be done without big rises in the basic level of taxation. ...a basic-rate taxpayer. ADJ: ADJ n

Moby Thesaurus

ab ovo, aboriginal, acid, alkali, austere, bare, basal, basilar, bedrock, biochemical, bottom, capital, central, chaste, chemical, chemicobiological, chemicoengineering, chemicomineralogical, chemicophysical, chemurgic, chief, constituent, constitutive, copolymeric, copolymerous, crucial, dimeric, dimerous, electrochemical, element, elemental, elementary, embryonic, essential, focal, foundational, fundamental, generative, genetic, germinal, gut, heteromerous, homely, homespun, homogeneous, in embryo, in ovo, indispensable, indivisible, irreducible, isomerous, key, life-and-death, life-or-death, macrochemical, main, material, mere, metameric, monolithic, monomerous, nonacid, of a piece, of the essence, of vital importance, original, part and parcel, photochemical, physicochemical, phytochemical, plain, polymeric, pregnant, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive, primordial, principal, pristine, protogenic, pure, pure and simple, radical, radiochemical, root, rudiment, rudimentary, seminal, severe, simon-pure, simple, single, spare, stark, substantial, substantive, thermochemical, unadorned, uncluttered, underlying, undifferenced, undifferentiated, uniform, vital