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Footing vs Base - What's the difference?

footing | base |

As a noun footing

is a ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on.

As a verb footing

is .

As an acronym base is

b'''uilding'', '''''a'''ntenna-tower'', '''''s'''pan'', '''''e arth .

footing

English

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on.
  • * Holder
  • In ascent, every step gained is a footing and help to the next.
  • A standing; position; established place; basis for operation; permanent settlement; foothold.
  • * (1800-1859)
  • As soon as he had obtained a footing at court, the charms of his mannermade him a favorite.
  • A relative condition; state.
  • * (1800-1859)
  • Lived on a footing of equality with nobles.
  • A tread; step; especially, measured tread.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Hark, I hear the footing of a man.
  • A footprint or footprints; tracks, someone's trail.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.vii:
  • The Monster swift as word, that from her went, / Went forth in hast, and did her footing trace.
  • *, I.38:
  • A man must doe as some wilde beasts, which at the entrance of their caves, will have no manner of footing seene.
  • stability or balance when standing on one's feet
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 29, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal , passage=Terry lost his footing to allow Van Persie to race clear for Arsenal's fourth after 85 minutes before the Netherlands striker completed a second treble against Chelsea by hammering his third past Petr Cech deep into stoppage time.}}
  • The act of adding up a column of figures; the amount or sum total of such a column.
  • * Francis A. Corliss, Supreme Court, County of New York (p.111)
  • The auditing of the accounts, when the defendant was present, was nothing more than the examinings of the footings of the bookkeeper.
  • The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is added as a foot; as, the footing of a stocking.
  • A narrow cotton lace, without figures.
  • The finer refuse part of whale blubber, not wholly deprived of oil. Simmonds.
  • (architecture, engineering) The thickened or sloping portion of a wall, or of an embankment at its foot; foundation.
  • (accounting) Double checking the numbers vertically.
  • Derived terms

    * footing beam * footing course * pay one's footing

    Verb

    (head)
  • ----

    base

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) base, from (etyl) basis, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
  • # A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object.
  • #* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=14 citation , passage=Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.}}
  • The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis.
  • A permanent structure for housing military personnel and material.
  • The place where decisions for an organization are made; headquarters.
  • (cooking, painting, pharmacy) A basic but essential component or ingredient.
  • A substance used as a mordant in dyeing.
  • (Ure)
  • (lb) Foundation: a cosmetic cream to make the face appear uniform.
  • (chemistry) Any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds, having bitter taste, that turn red litmus blue, and react with acids to form salts.
  • Important areas in games and sports.
  • # A safe zone in the children's games of tag and hide-and-go-seek.
  • # (baseball) One of the three places that a runner can stand without being subject to being tagged out.
  • (architecture) The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement.
  • (biology, biochemistry) A nucleotide's nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer.
  • (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support.
  • (electronics) The name of the controlling terminal of a bipolar transistor (BJT).
  • (geometry) The lowest side of a in a triangle or other polygon, or the lowest face of a cone, pyramid or other polyhedron laid flat.
  • (heraldiccharge) The lowest third of a shield or escutcheon.
  • (mathematics) A number raised to the power of an exponent.
  • The logarithm to base 2 of 8 is 3.
  • (mathematics) Alternative to radix.
  • (topology) The set of sets from which a topology is generated.
  • (topology) A topological space, looked at in relation to one of its covering spaces, fibrations, or bundles.
  • (cheerleading) A cheerleader who stays on the ground.
  • (linguistics) A morpheme (or morphemes) that serves as a basic foundation on which affixes can be attached.
  • (music)
  • * Dryden
  • The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.
  • (military, historical) The smallest kind of cannon.
  • (heraldry) The lower part of the field. See escutcheon.
  • The housing of a horse.
  • (historical, in the plural) A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade, but sometimes of mailed armour) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower.
  • (obsolete) The lower part of a robe or petticoat.
  • (obsolete) An apron.
  • * Marston
  • bakers in their linen bases
  • A line in a survey which, being accurately determined in length and position, serves as the origin from which to compute the distances and positions of any points or objects connected with it by a system of triangles.
  • (Lyman)
    Synonyms
    * (chemical compound that will neutralize an acid) alkali
    Antonyms
    * (chemical compound that will neutralize an acid) acid * (end of a leaf) apex
    Derived terms
    * air base * base bag * baseball * baseband * baseboard * base box * base-burner * base camp * base censor * base coat * base color/base colour * base course * base exchange * base hospital * baseless * baselevel * baseline * basely * base load * baseman * basement * base molding/base moulding * base out * base over apex * baseperson * baseplate * base-player * base-playing * base point * base port * base radio * base rate * base ring * baserunner/base runner * base-running/baserunning * base ship * base shoot * base squadron * base station * base-stealer * base-stealing * base substitution * base table * base unit * base wallah * basewoman * counterbase * cover one's bases * database * debase * first base * freebase * home base * knowledge base * leuco-base * make first base * moonbase * off base * on base * power base * prisoner's base, prisoners' base * second base * subbase * surbase * third base * wheelbase

    Verb

    (bas)
  • To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of.
  • *
  • Firstly, I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants.
  • To be located (at a particular place).
  • Derived terms
    * -based * base on

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) bas, from .

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (obsolete) Low in height; short.
  • base shrubs
    (Shakespeare)
  • Low in place or position.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • (obsolete) Of low value or degree.
  • * , II.3:
  • If thou livest in paine and sorrow, thy base courage is the cause of it, To die there wanteth but will.
  • (archaic) Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • a pleasant and base swain
  • Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
  • * Robynson (More's Utopia)
  • a cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind
  • * Milton
  • base ingratitude
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“Mrs. Yule's chagrin and horror at what she called her son's base ingratitude knew no bounds ; at first it was even thought that she would never get over it.
  • Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality.
  • Designating those metals which are not classed as (precious) or (noble).
  • Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.
  • base''' coin;  '''base bullion
  • (obsolete) Of illegitimate birth; bastard.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Why bastard? wherefore base ?
  • Not classical or correct.
  • base Latin
    (Fuller)
  • the base tone of a violin
  • (legal) Not held by honourable service.
  • A base''' estate is one held by services not honourable, or held by villenage. Such a tenure is called '''base''', or low, and the tenant is a '''base tenant.
    Usage notes
    * Said of fellows, motives, occupations, etc.
    Synonyms
    * bad, vile, malicious, destructive, reprehensible, knavish, evil
    Antonyms
    * likeable * desirable * admirable * noble
    Derived terms
    * base-born * base-bred * base coin * base estate * base fee * basely * base metal * base-minded * baseness * base-spirited * base tenant * base tenure * base-witted

    Etymology 3

    Probably a specific use of Etymology 1, above; perhaps also a development of the plural of (bar).

    Noun

    (-)
  • * Shakespeare
  • to run the country base
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , V.8:
  • So ran they all, as they had bene at bace , / They being chased that did others chase.

    Etymology 4

    Variant forms.

    Acronym

    (Acronym) (head)
  • Derived terms
    * base jumper * base jumping

    See also

    * (wikipedia "base") *

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----