abase

Meaning

Verb

• 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.
• To lower physically; to depress; to cast or throw down; to stoop.
• To lower in value, in particular by altering the content of alloys in coins; to debase.

Related

Similar words

• degrade, demean, depress, discredit, disgrace, dishonor, humble, humiliate, sink
• bring down, lower, reduce
• downgrade

Opposite words

• aggrandise, dignify, elevate, exalt, extol, honor, promote, raise, uplift,

Origin

• From Late Middle English abaishen, abashen, abaisse, abassen, abesse, abessen, from Middle French abaisser, from Old French abaissier, abessier (also compare Old French esbahir ("to amaze"), Vulgar Latin abbassiāre ("to lower")), from a- (from Latin ad ("toward, to"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ("at, to")) + baissier (from Medieval Latin bassus ("short of stature, low; base"), possibly from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς ("foot; base, foundation"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ("to step")). The spelling of the English word has been influenced by base, thus ostenibly analyzable as a- + base.
• Cognate with Spanish abajo ("down, downstairs; below").