basis vs building block

basis

noun
  • A physical base or foundation. 

  • A starting point, base or foundation for an argument or hypothesis. 

  • A regular frequency. 

  • In a vector space, a linearly independent set of vectors spanning the whole vector space. 

  • Amount paid for an investment, including commissions and other expenses. 

  • An underlying condition or circumstance. 

  • A collection of subsets ("basis elements") of a set, such that this collection covers the set, and for any two basis elements which both contain an element of the set, there is a third basis element contained in the intersection of the first two, which also contains that element. 

  • The difference between the cash price a dealer pays to a farmer for his produce and an agreed reference price, which is usually the futures price at which the given crop is trading at a commodity exchange. 

building block

noun
  • A component that is part of a larger construction, such as a brick or a stone. 

  • A block made of wood or plastic that is used as a children's toy and can be stacked or joined to form a larger structure. 

  • A component that is part of a larger system. 

How often have the words basis and building block occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )