Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1800-1900
Origin: base

basic

 adjective
     
ba‧sic S1 W1
1 forming the most important or most necessary part of something [↪ basics]:
the basic principles of chemistry
The basic idea is simple.
basic to
medical techniques basic to the control of infection
2 at the simplest or least developed level [↪ basics]:
the basic skills of programming
Their knowledge is very basic.
The farm lacks even basic equipment.
3

basic salary/pay/pension etc

BEW the amount of money that you are paid before any special payments are added:
On top of the basic salary there are numerous other benefits.
4 [only before noun] basic rights, needs etc are ones that everyone needs or should have:
basic human rights
poor families unable to meet their basic needs
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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