base rate

noun

1. the rate of pay per unit of time, as by the hour, or per piece, or for work performed at an established standard rate.

base rate

noun

1. the rate of interest used by individual commercial banks as a basis for their lending rates
2. informal.
   the rate at which the Bank of England lends to the discount houses, which effectively controls the interest rates charged throughout the banking system
3. statistics the average number of times an event occurs divided by the average number of times on which it might occur

Word History and Origins

Origin of base rate¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

The Bush tax cuts expire in the plan, and the Buffet rule would tax millionaires a base rate of 30 percent.

From The Daily Beast

For this distance the base rate of sixty cents per hundred pounds, first class, is fixed by common agreement.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus a rate is found which is reduced to a percentage of the original Chicago base rate.

From Project Gutenberg

Their counterparts today are paid a monthly base rate of $592 and $800.

From Project Gutenberg