bass

The word “bass” means low in pitch or frequency, referring to sound, voice, or instrument. In plain terms, low musical pitch or a bass instrument — completely unrelated to the fish that shares the spelling.

“Bass” is pronounced bays (/beɪs/ in IPA).

Here is “bass” used in a sentence: “He has a deep, bass voice perfect for radio.”

Depending on how it is used, “bass” can be an adjective and a noun.

The word “bass” comes from Old English. The musical sense is a respelling of base, influenced by Italian basso, "low." The fish name is unrelated, from Old English.

“Bass” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Bass” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: low in pitch or frequency, referring to sound, voice, or instrument.

"Bass" refers to the lowest range of musical pitch or sound, while "treble" refers to the highest. On audio equipment, turning up the bass boosts the deep, low frequencies, whereas turning up the treble boosts the high ones.

These are two different words that happen to share a spelling. The musical "bass," which rhymes with "base," means low in pitch, while the fish "bass," which rhymes with "gas," is a type of fish. Only the low-pitch meaning relates to sound and music.

Both play in the low, bass range, but a bass guitar is a fretted, usually electric instrument held like a guitar, while a double bass is the large upright string instrument of the orchestra, played standing and often bowed or plucked. They share a pitch range but differ in size and playing style.

In singing, "bass" is the lowest male voice type, while "baritone" sits above it, between bass and tenor. A bass reaches deeper notes than a baritone.