Our new 'Word Of The Day' article update : abase , v :
(transitive) To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate. (transitive, archaic) To lower physically; to depress; to cast or throw down; to stoop. (transitive, obsolete) To lower in value, in particular by altering the content of alloys in coins; to debase.