basal

From base + -al.

• (UK) IPA^(key): [ˈbeɪsəɫ]

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US, also) IPA^(key): [ˈbeɪzəɫ]
• Rhymes: -eɪsəl, -eɪzəl

basal (comparative more basal, superlative most basal)

1. Basic, elementary; relating to, or forming, the base, or point of origin.

   This is the basal idea.

   The organism needs more energy on basal maintenance.

   A basal reader is a kind of book that is used to teach reading.

2. (anatomy) Associated with the base of an organism or structure.

   In the spring, basal leaves emerge from a stout taproot.

3. (medicine) Of a minimal level that is necessary for maintaining the health or life of an organism.

   a basal diet

4. (chiefly systematics) In a phylogenetic tree, being a group, or member of a group, which diverged earlier. The earliest clade to branch in a larger clade.

   Hittite is a basal Indo-European language.

   A magnolia is a basal angiosperm.

• basilar

basal (plural basals)

1. base, bottom, minimum
2. (anatomy) Any basal structure or part

• Labas, balsa, balas, Baals, laabs, blaas, albas, baals, Baʿals, sabal, Ba'als, LABAs

Borrowed from Arabic بَصَل (baṣal).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbasal/ [ˈbʌsʌl]
• Hyphenation: ba‧sal

básal m (singulative basáltu m)

1. (collective) onions

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “basal”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

basal (feminine basale, masculine plural basaux, feminine plural basales)

1. basal

• → Romanian: bazal
• → Turkish: bazal

• “basal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

basal (strong nominative masculine singular basaler, comparative basaler, superlative am basalsten)

1. basal

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbasal/ [ˈba.sal]
• Rhymes: -asal
• Syllabification: ba‧sal

From Dutch basalt, from French basalte, from Middle French basalte, from Late Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian bḫn (“a hard stone”).

basal (plural basal-basal)

1. (geology) basalt

• basalt (Standard Malay)

From Malay basal (“dropsy”), from Arabic بَصَل (baṣal, “onion, bulb”).

basal (plural basal-basal)

1. dropsy, edema

   Synonym: edema

From Dutch basaal, from English basal.

basal (comparative lebih basal, superlative paling basal)

1. basal, basic

   Synonym: dasar

2. (anatomy, histology) basal (associated with the base of an organism or structure)
3. (medicine) basal (of a minimal level that is necessary for maintaining the health or life of an organism)

basal (plural basal-basal)

1. basal, base, bottom, minimum
2. (anatomy) basal (any basal structure or part)

• “basal”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Inherited from Arabic بَصَل (baṣal).

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.sal/
• Rhymes: -asal

basal m (collective, singulative basla, paucal basliet, diminutive bsajla)

1. onion (as a mass or species); several onions
   • 2018, “Tasal li tiekol burger bid-dud?”, in Television Malta (TVM)‎^[1]:

     Biex il-burger ikun komplut jisserva bil-ħass, basal u tadam u diġà kien suċċess fl-Olanda u l-Belġju.

     For the burger to be complete it is served with lettuce, onions and tomatoes; it has already been a success in the Netherlands and Belgium.

2. bulbs

basal

1. to beat, to knock

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: ba‧sal

basal m or f (plural basais, not comparable)

1. basal

• “basal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “basal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /baˈsal/ [baˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ba‧sal

basal m or f (masculine and feminine plural basales)

1. basal, foundational, underlying

• “basal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025