Surbase - Encyclopedia Britannica 1911

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

SURBASE (Lat. super, whence the Fr. sur, above or upon, and base, q.v.), i.e. upper base, the term in architecture applied to what, in the fittings of a room, is called the chair-rail. It is also used to distinguish the cornice of a pedestal or podium and is separated from the base by the dado or die.