# baseline

Pronunciation: US say "BAYS-lyn" /ˈbeɪslaɪn/; UK

## Noun

1. A known value, set of data, condition, or established configuration used as a fixed reference point for measurement or comparison.
   - Simple: A value, condition, or setup used as a starting point for measuring or comparing things.
   - _Researchers measured each patient's resting heart rate to establish a baseline._
   - _Using 1990 emissions as the baseline, the city has cut its carbon output by a third._
2. The line at each far end of a tennis court that marks the boundary of the area of play.
   - Simple: The line at each end of a tennis court that shows where the playing area stops.
   - _She hit a deep forehand that clipped the baseline for a winner._
   - _The ball landed an inch beyond the baseline, and the line judge called it out._
3. A line that serves as the base from which measurements are taken or construction is laid out.
   - Simple: A line that you measure from or build from.
   - _Surveyors marked a baseline along the road and measured every lot from it._
   - _The carpenter snapped a chalk baseline across the deck to keep the boards straight._
6. The line along which glyphs, the shapes of letters and other characters, are aligned in type.
   - Simple: The line that letters line up on in printing and on screens.
   - _The designer nudged the numbers up so they would align with the baseline of the text._
   - _In this font, the tails of the g and the q dip well below the baseline._

## Verb

4. To establish a baseline for something, giving later measurements a fixed reference to be compared with.
   - Simple: To set a starting point for measuring something later.
   - _Teams should baseline performance at the start of every project._
   - _The schedule was baselined in January, and every delay since has been measured against it._
5. To play from the baseline, staying back at the far end of the court during rallies.
   - Simple: To play tennis while staying back near the line at the end of the court.

## Origin

Formed from base + line.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/baseline (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).