baseline

/ˈbeɪslaɪn/ noun [S]

Definition

› FINANCE an amount of money or a number that is used to compare other amounts of money or numbers to, especially as a way of measuring whether they have increased or decreased: a baseline price/figure/rate $13 million was added to the baseline budget for the district attorney's office.

› a minimum level of quality, safety, etc. that is considered to be necessary in a particular situation: baseline for sth Europe's steelmakers have proposed a system that sets a baseline for carbon efficiency.baseline of sth The new features should provide a baseline of security for Windows users.

(Definition of baseline noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)