FluentPlex

basis

/ˈbeɪ.sɪs/ noun B1
  1. A physical base or foundation.
  2. A starting point, base or foundation for an argument or hypothesis.
  3. An underlying condition or circumstance. · Allow us to compete on an equal basis.
  4. A regular frequency. · You should brush your teeth on a daily basis at minimum.· The flights to Fiji leave on a weekly basis.
  5. The difference between the cash price a dealer pays to a farmer for his produce and an agreed reference price, which is usually the futures price at which the given crop is trading at a commodity exchange.
  6. In a vector space, a linearly independent set of vectors spanning the whole vector space.
  7. Amount paid for an investment, including commissions and other expenses.
  8. A collection of subsets ("basis elements") of a set, such that this collection covers the set, and for any two basis elements which both contain an element of the set, there is a third basis element contained in the intersection of the first two, which also contains that element. · The collection of all possible unions of basis elements of a basis is said to be the topology generated by that basis.

Plural bases

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From the library

We have a good working basis, however, on which to start.
A Study in Scarlet, p. 39 · B2
I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, p. 35 · B2
It gives us the basis for several deductions.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles, p. 3 · C1
And if we take this as a working hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start our construction of this unknown visitor.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles, p. 3 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.