Word Study
basic
CIDE DICTIONARY
basic, a.
- Relating to a base; performing the office of a base in a salt. [1913 Webster]
- Said of crystalline rocks which contain a relatively low percentage of silica, as basalt. [1913 Webster]
basic, n.
an artificial computer language with a relatively simplified instruction set.
"Writing a program in BASIC or other higher computer languages is simpler than writing in assembly language. See also programming language , FORTRAN ." [PJC]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
basic, 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
basic, 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.
--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.
Idiom
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.
Derivative
basically adv.
Etymology
BASE(1) + -IC
THESAURUS
basic
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, vitalFor further exploring for "basic" in Webster Dictionary Online