Meaning

noun the lowest part of the musical range

noun the lowest part in polyphonic music

noun an adult male singer with the lowest voice

originFrom Middle English bace, bas, alteration of bars, from Old English bærs (“a fish, perch”), from Proto-West Germanic *bars, from Proto-Germanic *barsaz (“perch”, literally “prickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰórsos (“prickle, thorn, scale”). Cognate with Dutch baars (“perch, bass”), German Barsch (“perch”). More at barse.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0