Английский Этимологический словарь - base (n.)

- 13c., from O.Fr. bas, from L. basis "foundation," from Gk. basis "step, pedestal," from bainein "to step." The military sense is from 1860. The verb meaning "to place on a foundation" is from 1841. Basement "lowest story of a building except the cellar" is first recorded 1730. Baseball is first recorded 1845, Amer.Eng. (earlier references, cf. in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," refer to the game of "rounders"); legendarily invented 1839 by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, N.Y.