How did we come to have a pronunciation of “base” for “bass” (as in the low range in music)? I believe the etymology would have been from the Italian “basso” for “low” but that is pronounced with a short a (like the fish).
Merriam-Webster’s first two definitions, covering the fish and the musical usage, don’t attribute Italian:
Thanks, *Ringo–I never imagined that the etymology could be other than from Latin/Italian. Maybe the extra S was added later as a back-formation to match the Italian. Otherwise would seem like a huge coincidence since it seems unlikely (to me anyway) that the Italian etymology would have derived from Middle English.
no, CoocingWithGas, you were correct. the word does come from latin. this is probably how it worked:
greek “basis” (meaning "fundament) -> latin “basis” -> french “bas” -> norman invasion -> middle english “bas” -> modern english “base”.
however, regardless of what merriam-webster says, the word “bass” as a musical term must have come from the italian “basso”, since this is the word used in all european languages to denote a low pitched voice (like “soprano”, “alto” and “tenor” for the other classes of pitch).
“[symbol]mpasso[/symbol]” in greek.
“bajo” in spanish.
“baß”/“bass” in german.
&c…
termini technici usually don’t evolve separately in each country. they tend to be uniform, not only in sciences, but also in arts, for rather obvious reasons.
hit the submit button too early…
practically every (western) standard musical term is italian. “bass” is just one of them, only with out the final “o”, just like “tenor” instead of “tenoro”.
I like your explanation, Apollon, but I don’t seem to be able to have it both ways. If the musical term really comes from Italian, [insert original question here].
why are you saying “toom” instead of “tomb”?
why aren’t americans pronouncing the “h” in “herbs”?
why is “ghoti” even thinkable? 
the english language seems like a royal mess for us non-native speakers.
i bet there is no logical explanation besides sleaziness. 
but perhaps someone else will enlighten us soon… someone more convincing than merriam-webster, that is. 
Someone will say it, sooner or later, so here goes (hey, might as well be me!):
Next time you go to a concert, remember:
“All your basses are belong to us!”
[ducks & runs]