basal

---

Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: [ˈbeɪsəɫ]
• (America, also) IPA: [ˈbeɪzəɫ]

Adjective

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.

Synonyms

• basilar

Translations

• Spanish: basal

Translations

• German: basal

Noun

basal (plural basals)

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

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004