bass
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(bās) 
n.
n.
- A low-pitched sound or tone.
- The tones in the lowest register of an instrument.
- A male singing voice of the lowest range.
- A singer who has such a voice.
- An instrument that sounds within this range.
- (Abbr. B) A vocal or instrumental part written within this range.
- An instrument, especially a double bass, that produces tones in a low register.
- Having a deep tone.
- Low in pitch.
[Middle English bas, lowest musical part, from bas, low. See base2.]
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Lowest musical voice or register. In vocal music, its range is approximately from the second E below middle C to middle C itself. A basso profundo emphasizes a lower register, a basso cantante a somewhat higher one. Outside of Russia, the solo bass voice has generally been relegated to certain standard operatic character roles. The lowest-pitched member of most instrumental families is usually called the bass (bass clarinet, double bass, etc.). In Western tonal music, the bass part is usually second in importance only to the melody, being the chief determiner of harmonic movement, a tendency that became particularly notable after the appearance of the basso continuo 1600.
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Roget's Thesaurus:
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bass
adjective
- Being a sound produced by a relatively small frequency of vibrations: alto, contralto, deep, low, low-pitched. See sounds/pleasant sounds/unpleasant sounds/neutral sounds or silence.
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bass (bās), in musical harmony, the part of lowest pitch. The term is used for the lowest-pitched male voice and for instruments of low pitch, such as bass clarinet, bass drum, bassoon (bass oboe), and bass trombone.
"Low." 1. The lowest male singing voice, below baritone. 2. The lowest part in a piece of music. 3. The lowest instrument in a musical work. 4. In the violin family, the lowest instrument.
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Fine Arts
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more
