foundation
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (7)foundations
- the basis on which something is grounded“there is little foundation for his objections”Type of relationKinds footing, grass roots
- an institution supported by an endowmentType of financial institution, financial organizationKinds charity
- lowest support of a structure“it was built on a base of solid rock”“he stood at the foot of the tower”Synonyms: basefundamentfootgroundworksubstructureunderstructureType of supportKinds bed, raft foundationPart of structure, construction
- education or instruction in the fundamentals of a field of knowledge“he lacks the foundation necessary for advanced study”“a good grounding in mathematics”Synonyms: groundingType of education
- the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained“the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture”Synonyms: basisbasefundamentgroundworkcornerstoneType of assumption, suppositionKinds meat and potatoesPart of explanation
- a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the bodySynonyms: foundation garmentType of undergarment, unmentionableKinds corset, roll-on
- the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new“she looked forward to her initiation as an adult”“the foundation of a new scientific society”Synonyms: initiationfoundinginstitutionoriginationcreationinnovationintroductioninstauration
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Noun that upon which anything is founded
- Spanish
- fundamento
- French
- fondement
- German
- Fundament
- Italian
- fondamenta
- Portuguese
- fundamento
- Turkish
- temel
- Russian
- фунда́мент fundáment
- Arabic
- أَسَاس ʔasās
- Chinese
- 基础 jīchǔ
- Japanese
- 基礎 kiso
24 more languages
- Dutch
- stichting
- Polish
- fundament
- Swedish
- grund
- Greek
- θεμέλιο themélio
- Korean
- 토대 todae
- Indonesian
- yayasan
- Vietnamese
- móng
- Portuguese (PT)
- fundamento
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 基礎 jīchǔ
- Catalan
- fundació
- Czech
- základy
- Danish
- fundament
- Esperanto
- fundamento
- Finnish
- perustus
- Hebrew
- יְסוֹד yesód
- Icelandic
- grunnur
- Latvian
- pamats
- Lithuanian
- pamatas
- Norwegian
- fundament
- Romanian
- fundament
- Serbo-Croatian
- temelj
- Swahili
- msingi
- Welsh
- sylfaen
- Yiddish
- פֿונדאַמענט fundament
Noun endowed institution or charity
- Spanish
- fundación
- French
- fondation
- German
- Stiftung
- Italian
- fondazione
- Portuguese
- fundação
- Turkish
- vakıf
- Russian
- фонд fond
- Arabic
- مُؤَسَّسَة muʔassasa
- Chinese
- 基金会 jījīnhuì
- Japanese
- 財団 zaidan
19 more languages
- Dutch
- stichting
- Polish
- fundacja
- Swedish
- stiftelse
- Greek
- ίδρυμα ídryma
- Indonesian
- yayasan
- Hungarian
- alapítvány
- Portuguese (PT)
- fundação
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 基金會 jījīnhuì
- Catalan
- fundació
- Czech
- nadace
- Danish
- fond
- Esperanto
- fondaĵo
- Estonian
- sihtasutus
- Finnish
- säätiö
- Hebrew
- קֶרֶן kéren
- Icelandic
- stofnun
- Norwegian
- stiftelse
- Romanian
- fundație
- Welsh
- sefydliad
Noun act of founding
- Spanish
- fundación
- French
- fondation
- German
- Gründung
- Italian
- fondazione
- Portuguese
- fundação
- Turkish
- kuruluş
- Russian
- основа́ние osnovánije
- Arabic
- إِنْشاء ʔinšāʔ
- Chinese
- 创立 chuànglì
- Japanese
- 設立 setsuritsu
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: F. fondation, L. fundatio. See Found to establish.
1. The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect.
2. 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; groundwork; basis.
Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone... a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.— Is. xxviii. 16.
The foundation of a free common wealth.— John Lothrop Motley
3. Architecture The lowest and supporting part or member of a wall, including the base course (see Base course (a), under Base, noun) and footing courses; in a frame house, the whole substructure of masonry.
4. A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment.
He was entered on the foundation of Westminster.— Thomas Babington Macaulay
5. That which is founded, or established by endowment; an endowed institution or charity; as, the Ford Foundation.
Against the canon laws of our foundation.— John Milton
Foundation course. See Base course, under Base, noun — Foundation muslin, an open-worked gummed fabric used for stiffening dresses, bonnets, etc. — Foundation school, in England, an endowed school. — To be on a foundation, to be entitled to a support from the proceeds of an endowment, as a scholar or a fellow of a college.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
The axiom of foundation states that the membership relation is well founded, i.e. that any non-empty collection Y of sets has a member y which is disjoint from Y. This rules out sets which contain themselves (directly or indirectly).