baseline

noun

base·​line ˈbās-ˌlīn 

often attributive

1

: a line serving as a basis

especially : one of known measure or position used (as in surveying or navigation) to calculate or locate something

2

a

: either of the lines on a baseball field that lead from home plate to first base and third base and are extended into the outfield as foul lines

b

: basepath

3

: a boundary line at either end of a court (as in tennis or basketball)

4

: a usually initial set of critical observations or data used for comparison or a control

5

: a starting point

the baseline of this discussion

Synonyms

• alpha
• beginning
• birth
• commencement
• dawn
• day one
• genesis
• get-go
• git-go
• inception
• incipience
• incipiency
• kickoff
• launch
• morning
• nascence
• nascency
• onset
• outset
• start
• threshold

Examples of baseline in a Sentence

The experiment is meant only to provide a baseline for other studies.

any year or event we use as the baseline for the Renaissance is going to be at least somewhat arbitrary

Recent Examples on the Web

Breaking down the pricing a little more, Apple bumped up the starting memory in all of its computers to 16GB from the former 8GB baseline without changing prices. —PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024

On one play, Jrue Holiday beat Curry along the baseline, only for Green to cut him off on the block, allowing Curry to recover and strip Holiday. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024

By altering the benchmarks reflective of the new expectation that agents will handle multiple chats concurrently, Autodesk has transformed both the goals and the associated behaviors, setting a new baseline for productivity. —Peter High, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Remarkably, the activity of natural killer cells returns to baseline levels after one night of normal sleep. —Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, TIME, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1556, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

baseline

noun

base·​line ˈbās-ˌlīn 

1

: a line used as a base

2

a

: either of two straight lines on a baseball field leading from home plate to first base and third base and extending into the outfield

b

: base path

Medical Definition

baseline

noun

base·​line ˈbā-ˌslīn 

: a set of critical observations or data used for comparison or a control