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English
Etymology
From Middle English foundacioun, fundacioun, from Old French fondacion, from Latin fundātiō (“founding, foundation”).
Pronunciation
Noun
foundation (countable and uncountable, plural foundations)
- The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect.
- Synonym: establishment
- Antonyms: abolition, dissolution, ruination
The foundation of his institute has been wrought with difficulty.
- That upon which anything is founded; that on which anything stands, and by which it is supported; the lowest and supporting layer of a superstructure; underbuilding.
- Synonyms: basis, groundwork, underbuilding, underframework
1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:Aye Madam to be sure that is the Provoking circumstance—without Foundation—yes yes—there's the mortification indeed—for when a slanderous story is believed against one—there certainly is no comfort like the consciousness of having deserved it——
2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
- (figurative) The result of the work to begin something; that which stabilizes and allows an enterprise or system to develop.
- Synonyms: groundwork, platform, stage
2006, K P Yadav, Economic Planning And Restructuring, Sarup & Sons, →ISBN, page 44:The implication is that the Gandhian model of growth is possible, now that Nehru's investment strategy had already laid a strong foundation for economic growth.
- (card games) In solitaire or patience games, one of the piles of cards that the player attempts to build, usually holding all cards of a suit in ascending order.
- (architecture) The lowest and supporting part or member of a wall, including the base course and footing courses; in a frame house, the whole substructure of masonry.
- Synonyms: base, groundwall
The foundations of this construction have been laid out.
- A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment.
- That which is founded, or established by endowment; an endowed institution or charity.
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is the parent organization of the Wiktionary collaborative project.
- (cosmetics) Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture.
- A basis for social bodies or intellectual disciplines.
2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. […] But as a foundation for analysis it is highly subjective: it rests on difficult decisions about what counts as a territory, what counts as output and how to value it. Indeed, economists are still tweaking it.
Derived terms
Translations
act of founding
- Arabic: إِنْشاء (ar) (ʔinšāʔ), إِشَادَة (ʔišāda), إِيجاد (ʔījād), تَأْسِيس (ar) (taʔsīs), رَفْع (ar) (rafʕ)
- Armenian: հիմնադրում (hy) (himnadrum), հիմնում (hy) (himnum)
- Belarusian: заснава́нне n (zasnavánnje)
- Bulgarian: основа́ване (bg) n (osnovávane)
- Catalan: fundació (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 奠基 (zh) (diànjī)
- Czech: založení (cs) n
- Danish: grundlæggelse c
- Dutch: stichting (nl) f
- Esperanto: fondo (eo)
- Finnish: perustaminen (fi)
- French: fondation (fr) f
- German: Gründung (de) f
- Greek: ίδρυση (el) n (ídrysi), σύσταση (el) f (sýstasi)
- Ancient: ἵδρυμα n (hídruma)
- Hebrew: ייסוד / יִסּוּד m (yisud), כינון m (kinun)
- Hindi: इजात m (ijāt)
- Italian: fondazione (it) f
- Japanese: 建設 (ja) (けんせつ, kensetsu), 設立 (ja) (せつりつ, setsuritsu), 創立 (ja) (そうりつ, sōritsu), 樹立 (ja) (じゅりつ, juritsu), 設置 (ja) (せっち, setchi)
- Kazakh: іргетас (ırgetas)
- Korean: 설립(設立) (ko) (seollip), 설치(設置) (ko) (seolchi)
- Latin: fundatio (la) f
- Macedonian: основање n (osnovanje)
- Occitan: fondacion (oc) f
- Ottoman Turkish: قوروم (kurum)
- Papiamentu: fundashon
- Polish: założenie (pl) n, ufundowanie n
- Portuguese: fundação (pt) f
- Punjabi:
- Gurmukhi: ਨੀਂਹ f (nī̃h), ਬੁਨਿਆਦ m (buniāda)
- Shahmukhi: نِین٘ہہ f (nīṉh), بُنیاد m (buniyād)
- Romanian: fondare f, întemeiere (ro) f, înființare (ro) f, fundamentare (ro) f-, fundație (ro) f, temelie (ro) f
- Russian: основа́ние (ru) n (osnovánije), учрежде́ние (ru) n (učreždénije)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Roman: utemeljenje n, osnívānje (sh) n, fundiranje n, zasnivanje n
- Slovak: založenie n
- Slovene: ustanovitev f
- Spanish: fundación (es) f
- Swedish: grundläggning (sv) c
- Turkish: kuruluş (tr)
- Ukrainian: заснува́ння n (zasnuvánnja)
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that upon which anything is founded
- Arabic: أَسَاس (ar) m (ʔasās), قَاعِدَة (ar) f (qāʕida)
- Armenian: հիմք (hy) (himkʿ)
- Assamese: ভেটি (bheti)
- Azerbaijani: bünövrə (az), təməl (az), özül (az), əsas (az)
- Bashkir: нигеҙ (nigeź)
- Belarusian: фунда́мент m (fundámjent), асно́ва f (asnóva), ба́зіс m (bázis)
- Bulgarian: осно́ва (bg) f (osnóva)
- Catalan: fundació (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 基礎/基础 (zh) (jīchǔ)
- Czech: základy (cs) m pl
- Danish: fundament n, grundlag n
- Dutch: fundament (nl) n
- Esperanto: fundamento (eo)
- Finnish: perustus (fi) (concrete), perusta (fi) (figuratively)
- French: fondation (fr) f, fondement (fr) m
- Galician: fundamento (gl) m, alicerces (gl) m pl, cimentos (gl) m pl
- German: Grundlage (de) f
- Greek: θεμέλιο (el) n (themélio)
- Ancient: θεμέλιον n (themélion)
- Hebrew: יְסוֹד (he) m (yesód), בָּסִיס (he) m (bɑsis)
- Hindi: कायदा (hi) m (kāydā), क़ायदा m (qāydā), बुनियाद (hi) f (buniyād)
- Icelandic: grunnur (is) m
- Ingrian: fundamentti
- Irish: bunsraith f
- Italian: fondamenta (it) f pl
- Japanese: 礎 (ja) (いしずえ, ishizue), 基礎 (ja) (きそ, kiso), 土台 (ja) (どだい, dodai)
- Korean: 기초(基礎) (ko) (gicho), 토대(土臺) (ko) (todae)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: بِناغە (binaẍe)
- Latin: fundāmen n, fundāmentum n
- Macedonian: темел m (temel)
- Malayalam: അടിസ്ഥാനം (ml) (aṭisthānaṁ), അടിത്തറ (ml) (aṭittaṟa)
- Maori: tūāpapa
- Mirandese: aliçace m
- Navajo: bindiiʼá
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: fundament n
- Occitan: fondacion (oc) f, fondament (oc) m
- Ottoman Turkish: قاعده (kaʿide), تمل (temel)
- Plautdietsch: Grunt m
- Polish: fundament (pl)
- Portuguese: fundação (pt) f, base (pt) f, fundamento (pt) m, alicerce (pt) m
- Punjabi:
- Gurmukhi: ਨੀਂਹ f (nī̃h), ਬੁਨਿਆਦ m (buniāda)
- Shahmukhi: نِین٘ہہ f (nīṉh), بُنیاد m (buniyād)
- Quechua: manqu
- Romanian: fundament (ro) n, fundație (ro) f, temelie (ro) f, temei (ro) n
- Russian: фунда́мент (ru) m (fundáment), осно́ва (ru) f (osnóva), ба́зис (ru) m (bázis)
- Sanskrit: धरुण (sa) n (dharuṇa)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: по̏длога f, фунда̀мент m
- Roman: pȍdloga (sh) f, fundàment (sh) m
- Sindhi: پِيڙهه f, بنياد m
- Slovak: základy m pl
- Spanish: cimiento (es) m
- Swahili: msingi (sw)
- Swedish: grund (sv) c, fundament (sv) n
- Tagalog: kinababatayan
- Tocharian B: ścmoñña
- Turkish: temel (tr)
- Ugaritic: 𐎊𐎒𐎄 (ysd)
- Ukrainian: фунда́мент m (fundáment), осно́ва f (osnóva), ба́зис (uk) m (bázys)
- Urdu: قاعِدَہ (ur) m (qā'idā), بُنیاد f (buniyād)
- Vietnamese: móng (vi), nền móng (vi)
- Welsh: sylfaen (cy)
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result of the work to begin something
lowest and supporting part or member of a wall
- Armenian: հիմք (hy) (himkʿ)
- Bashkir: нигеҙ (nigeź)
- Bulgarian: фундаме́нт (bg) m (fundamént), осно́ва (bg) f (osnóva)
- Catalan: fonaments (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 地基 (zh) (dìjī)
- Danish: fundament n
- Dutch: fundering (nl)
- Esperanto: institucio, fundamento (eo)
- Finnish: perustus (fi)
- French: fondation (fr) f
- Galician: fundamento (gl) m, cimento (gl) m
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: Fundament (de) n, Gründung (de) f
- Greek: θεμέλιο (el) n (themélio)
- Hebrew: תשתית f (tashtit)
- Icelandic: grunnur (is) m
- Irish: bunsraith f
- Italian: fondazione (it) f
- Kabuverdianu: pardueru, pardueru, pardiere
- Khmer: ឃរមូល (km) (khĕəʼrĕəʼ muul), ធារ (km) (thiə)
- Maori: tūāpapa, tūāpapa
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: grunnmur m
- Old English: grundweall m
- Ottoman Turkish: قاعده (kaʿide), تمل (temel)
- Persian: فونداسیون (fa) (fondâsion)
- Polish: fundament (pl) m
- Portuguese: base (pt) f
- Quechua: manqu, takay
- Romanian: fundație (ro) f, temelie (ro) f, bază (ro) f
- Russian: цо́коль (ru) m (cókolʹ)
- Scottish Gaelic: bun-stèidh f
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: тѐмељ m, фунда̀мент m
- Roman: tèmelj (sh) m, fundàment (sh) m
- Sindhi: پِيڙهه f, بنياد m
- Spanish: cimiento (es) m
- Swahili: msingi (sw)
- Swedish: grund (sv) c, bas (sv) c
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: kāide, temel (tr)
- Vietnamese: nền móng (vi)
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legacy constituting a permanent fund of charitable institution
- Bulgarian: фонда́ция f (fondácija)
- Finnish: peruspääoma
- French: fondation (fr) f
- Polish: fundacja (pl) f
- Portuguese: dote (pt) m
- Romanian: fundație (ro) f, fond (ro) n
- Russian: фонд (ru) m (fond)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: фонда́ција f, за́дужбина f
- Roman: fondácija (sh) f, zádužbina (sh) f
- Sindhi: پِيڙهڪا f
- Swedish: grundplåt (sv) c, kapital (sv) n, fond (sv) c, arv (sv) n, testamente (sv) n, förmögenhet (sv) c, stiftelse (sv) c, donation (sv) c
- Turkish: kuruluş (tr)
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endowed institution or charity
basis for social bodies; intellectual disciplines
Translations to be checked
Further reading