abase
/əˈbeɪs/
"abase" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“abase” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate.
Corpus desk
Index EN-abase · abase · English
abase · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abase |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈbeɪs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “abase” in English
Rare enough to double-check
abase is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /əˈbeɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for abase in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English abaishen, abashen, abaisse, abassen, abesse, abessen (“to be upset; to embarrass; to surprise; to confound; to bend down, stoop; to abase, degrade, disgrace”), from Middle French abaisser, from Old French abaissier, abessier (“to pr… The correct English form is abase, spelled A-B-A-S-E.
Definition
- 1To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate.
- 2To lower physically; to depress; to cast or throw down; to stoop.
- 3To lower in value, in particular by altering the content of alloys in coins; to debase.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how abase appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
For whoſoeuer exalteth himſelfe ſhalbe abaſed: and hee that humbleth himſelfe, ſhalbe exalted.
Our adverſaries object againe, that by praying that Chriſts merits may be made ours in particular, we greatly abaſe them. As though the Prophet David did abaſe God in making him his in particular, ſaying, the Lord is my rock, my fortreſſe, my God, and my ſtrength, my ſhield, the horne of my ſalvation, and my refuge: […]
Etymology
From Late Middle English abaishen, abashen, abaisse, abassen, abesse, abessen (“to be upset; to embarrass; to surprise; to confound; to bend down, stoop; to abase, degrade, disgrace”), from Middle French abaisser, from Old French abaissier, abessier (“to prostrate oneself; to lower, reduce”) (also compare Old French esbahir (“to amaze”), Vulgar Latin abbassiāre (“to lower”)), from a- (prefix indicating movement towards something) (from Latin ad (“toward, to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“at, to”)) + baissier (“to lower”) (from Medieval Latin bassus (“short of stature, low; base”), possibly from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs, “foot; base, foundation”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”)). The spelling of the English word has been influenced by base, thus ostensibly analyzable as a- (“towards”) + base. There exist verb cognates in galloromance languages such as Catalan abaixar (“lower; abase”) and Occitan abaissar, and similar word construction in other romance languages as Spanish abajo (“down, downstairs; below”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.