abase

English

From Middle English abaisse, abesse, abessen, abaishen, abassen, from Middle French abaisser, from Old French abaissier (“bring low”), from Old French a- + baissier (“to lower”), from Vulgar Latin abbassiāre (“to lower”), from Medieval Latin bassus (“short of stature, low, humble”).^[1]^[2]

abase (third-person singular simple present abases, present participle abasing, simple past and past participle abased)

(transitive, archaic) To lower physically or depress; to stoop; to throw or cast down; as, to abase the eye. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]^[2]
- "Saying so, he abased his lance." - Thomas Shelton
(transitive) To lower, as in rank, office, condition in life, so as to hurt feelings or cause pain; to depress; to humiliate; to humble; to degrade. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]^[2]
- "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased." - Luke 14:11
(transitive, obsolete) To lower in value, in particular as altering the content of alloys in coins.^[2][Attested from the mid 16^th century until the mid 18^th century.]^[2]

to lower so as to hurt feelings

^ 2004 [1998], Elliott K. Dobbie; Dunmore, C. William, et al., Barnhart, Robert K. editor, Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, Edinburgh, Scotland: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, ISBN 0550142304, page 2:
↑ ^2.0^2.1^2.2^2.3^2.4 2003 [1933], Brown, Lesley editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, edition 5th, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7, page 2: