basement

basement — noun

1. the lowest floor of a building, with rooms under the ground or only partly under

1.nounB2
Definition

the lowest floor of a building, with rooms under the ground or only partly under it

Example

We keep old photo albums in boxes under the basement stairs.

collocation: basement stairs

After the storm, muddy water filled the basement within an hour.

collocation: flooded basement

Common collocations
  • basement apartment
  • basement stairs
  • basement window
  • finished basement
  • flooded basement
Synonyms
  • cellar

    often smaller and more strongly linked to storage, especially food or wine

  • lower ground floor

    more formal, especially in British building descriptions

  • lower level

    broader and can describe part of a house plan, not always fully underground

Antonyms
  • attic

    the space or room high in a house, under the roof

  • top floor

    the highest storey of a building

Grammar Patterns

in the basement

go down to the basement

turn the basement into something

Usage Note

Often follows prepositions such as in, from, and down to. Distinguish from cellar, which more often suggests a storage space for food or drink rather than an ordinary room people use every day.

Common Mistakes

The bikes are in basement.
The bikes are in the basement.
When you mean the room in a building, basement usually takes the article the.
The children sleep in the cellar.
The children sleep in the basement.
cellar often suggests storage, while basement can be a normal living or work space.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For sense 1, basement is the usual general word for rooms below a building. It can describe storage space, a laundry area, or even a finished room where people work, play music, or watch films. Cellar is close, but it more often suggests a simpler space used for keeping food, wine, or old things. Lower ground floor is more formal and is common in building plans or property ads, especially in British English. Attic is not a synonym in meaning, but learners often mix the two up: an attic is at the top of a house, while a basement is underneath it. You might store paint in the cellar, but the family may watch TV in the basement.

basement ↗cellar ↗lower ground floorattic ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • basement apartment
  • basement window
  • basement stairs

Phrases

  • go down to the basement
  • turn the basement into

Prepositions

  • in the basement
  • from the basement
  • down to the basement

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Basement was formed in English from base with the ending -ment. The older word base came through French from Latin and earlier Greek words connected with a foundation or bottom part. Over time, basement became the everyday word for the rooms at the lowest part of a building, below ground level.