baseling

English

Etymology

From Middle English baseling (attested only in the sense of debased coinage), equivalent to base +‎ -ling.

Noun

baseling (plural baselings)

(rare) One who is base or inferior
- 1873, Homer, The First Six Books of the Iliad of Homer, page 31:
  O weaklings, baselings we, — Achaian women, and not men!
- 1882, Frederick Randolph Abbe, The Temple Rebuilt, page 179:
  Why lift aloft the baseling? give the sword
  To unanointed hands? garland the brow
  Which virtue never crowned? […]
- 2015, Exell, Joseph S., Biblical Illustrator, volume 5:
  Or again, the world's simpletons, the world's nonentities, the world's weaklings and baselings (i.e., elements deemed such by the world) the chosen things, the very elements of God's selection for the kingdom, […]

Synonyms

lowling

See also

underling

Anagrams

Belgians, Bengalis, signable, singable

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.