bas

\ba\

/\ba\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“bas” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #343) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#343
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a peu de hauteur ou d’élévation.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bas · bas · French

bas · rank #343 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #343
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH aucune

Nearest frequency peer: aucune (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “bas”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “bas” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bas vs by
33% similar
bas vs be
33% similar
bas vs BD
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bas
PropertyValue
Headwordbas
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ba\
Letters3
Frequency rank#343
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bas” sits in French frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).bas lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bas is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "be", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced \ba\. Frequency #343 among 4,251 “B” headwords. 11 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for bas in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "be", "BD", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is bas, spelled B-A-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a peu de hauteur ou d’élévation.
  2. 2
    Qui est situé à un niveau inférieur.
  3. 3
    Qualifie un lieu dont l’altitude est inférieure que celui d’où descendent les rivières qui les arrosent.
  4. 4
    Baissé, par opposition à levé, redressé.
  5. 5
    Grave.
  6. 6
    Qui est inférieur, moindre ou subalterne.
  7. 7
    Qui est vil, méprisable, contraire à la noblesse.
  8. 8
    Qui est trivial ou populaire, en parlant du registre de langage.
  9. 9
    Qualifie le ciel lorsqu’il est chargé de nuages moins élevés qu’à l’ordinaire, signe que le temps menace de pluie.
  10. 10
    Qualifie les classes par où commencent les écoliers, les classes élémentaires.
  11. 11
    Qualifiait, dans les places, les casemates et flancs de bastions qui servaient à défendre le fossé et la courtine.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bas appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Nous reçûmes l’ordre de côtoyer en le remontant le ruisseau de la Tourbe, qui arrose la plus triste vallée du monde, entre des collines basses, sans arbres et sans buissons.
  2. Des rochers bas, couverts de mousses et de varechs, émergent à marée basse.

Synonyms

courtcourt sur jambescourt sur pattespetitmesquinvilfamiliervulgairecouvertgrismenaçantnuageux

Antonyms

hautélevéaigusupérieurnoblesoutenudégagé

This word in other languages

low(English)bajo(Español)niedrig(Deutsch)baixo(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bas"?
"bas" is spelled B-A-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ba\.
What does "bas" mean?
As an adjective, "bas" means: Qui a peu de hauteur ou d’élévation.
What words are commonly confused with "bas"?
"bas" is commonly confused with "by", "be", "BD". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bas"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bas" is \ba\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bas" come from?
"bas" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bas", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

air#341mis#339vue#361loi#300

What to do next

You've looked up "bas". Here's where to go from here.

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list