An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Base

by Friedrich Kluge

Base, f. (dialect. designating any of the remoter degrees of relation on the female side, e.g., in the Basle dial. ‘aunt, niece, cousin’), ‘cousin, aunt,’ from MidHG. base, OHG. basa, ‘father's sister’; the AS. and Fris. dialects have a word allied to Vater; AS. faþu, OFris. fethe. The Teut. type faþôn is certainly only a term of endearment for faþar-, fadar-suëstar, ‘father’s sister.’ Probably OHG. basa is also a pet or childish name for the proper badar-, fadar-swësô. The same might be said of the variant MidG. and LG. Wase, and with the necessary qualifications of the masc. Baas.