baseline

noun

line in typography upon which most letters "sit" and below which descenders extend
survey line
information found at the beginning of a study in medicine or other initial known value which is used for comparison with later data
benchmark for measuring the budgetary effects of proposed changes in revenues and spending
agreed description in configuration management of the attributes of a product, at a point in time, which serves as a basis for defining change
the line from which the seaward limits of a state's territorial sea and certain other maritime zones of jurisdiction are measured; normally, a sea baseline follows the low-water line of a coastal state
the starting-point or control state of an entity, which is used for comparison

adjective