Dictionary Definition
foundation
Noun
1 the basis on which something is grounded;
"there is little foundation for his objections"
2 an institution supported by an endowment
3 the fundamental assumptions from which
something is begun or developed or calculated or explained; "the
whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture" [syn: basis, base, fundament, groundwork, cornerstone]
4 lowest support of a structure; "it was built on
a base of solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower" [syn:
base, fundament, foot, groundwork, substructure, understructure]
5 education or instruction in the fundamentals of
a field of knowledge; "he lacks the foundation necessary for
advanced study"; "a good grounding in mathematics" [syn: grounding]
6 a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to
the contours of the body [syn: foundation
garment]
7 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"; "he regards the fork as a modern introduction" [syn:
initiation, founding, institution, origination, creation, innovation, introduction, instauration]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -eɪʃǝn
Noun
- The act of founding, fixing, establishing,
or beginning to erect.
- 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; groundwork; basis.
- The lowest and supporting part or member of a wall, including
the base course (see Base course (a), under Base, n.) and footing
courses; in a frame house, the whole substructure of masonry.
- 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.
Translations
act of founding
that upon which anything is founded
lowest and supporting part or member of a wall
- Finnish: perustus
- Sindhi: ,
legacy constituting a permanent fund of
charitable institution
- Finnish: peruspääoma
- Sindhi:
endowed institution or charity
Extensive Definition
Foundation may refer to:
- Foundation (engineering), the portion of a building's structure that transfers the weight of the building into the ground
- Foundation (cosmetics), a cosmetic applied to the face
-
Foundation (nonprofit organization), a legal categorization of
nonprofit organizations
- Private foundation, legal entity founded by a private individual
- Public charity, which has the word Foundation in its name
- Waqf, an inalienable religious endowment in Islam, often translated in English with Foundation
- List of charitable foundations, a list of foundations that support or provide philanthropic activities.
- List of wealthiest foundations, an annotated list of the largest foundations and other charitable organizations, organised by country and size of financial endowment.
- Foundation (evidence), sufficient preliminary evidence for the admissibility of further evidence
- Foundation Degree, a vocational qualification available in England
- FOUNDATION fieldbus, an industrial standard for a fieldbus control system
- University Foundation Programme, a year of preparation for international students before beginning a degree
- Foundation (novel) of the Foundation series, a series of books written by Isaac Asimov
- The Foundation (Seinfeld episode), an episode of the TV series Seinfeld
- La fundación (The Foundation), a 1974 play written by Antonio Buero Vallejo
- Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction, an academic journal
- The Foundations, a British soul group
- The Roots (aka The Foundation), an American hip-hop group
- Foundation (album), a 1998 album by rap group Brand Nubian
- The Foundation (album), a 2005 album by The Geto Boys
- "Foundations" (song), a 2007 song by indie singer Kate Nash
- "The Foundation" (song), a 1996 song by rapper Xzibit
foundation in Catalan: Fundació
(desambiguació)
foundation in German: Foundation
foundation in Spanish: Fundación
foundation in French: Fondation
foundation in Indonesian: Fondasi
foundation in Italian: Fondazione
foundation in Dutch: Foundation
foundation in Japanese: ファウンデーション
foundation in Portuguese: Fundação
(desambiguação)
foundation in Turkish: Vakıf
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
A, a priori
principle, affirmation, alpha, anchorage, appanage, apriorism, arrangement, assertion, assumed position,
assumption, axiom, basal, base, baseboard, basement, basic, basic training, basis, bearing wall, bed, bedding, bedrock, beginning, blast-off, bottom, briefing, call, categorical proposition,
cause, cellar, chassis, clearing the decks,
clown white, cold cream, colonization, commencement, compact, constitution, cosmetics, creation, cutting edge,
dado, data, dawn, dot, dower, dowry, drugstore complexion,
edge, effectuation, endowment, equipment, establishment, eye shadow,
eyebrow pencil, familiarization, first
principles, fixation,
fixing, floor, flooring, flying start,
fond, foot, footing, formation, foundation cream,
foundational,
founding, frame, fresh start, fundament, fundamental, good reason,
greasepaint,
ground, grounds, groundwork, hand cream, hand
lotion, hardpan,
hypothesis,
hypothesis ad hoc, inauguration, inception, infrastructure, initiation, installation, installment, institute, instituting, institution, investiture, investment, jointure, jump-off, keel, kick-off, leading edge, legal
jointure, lemma, lip
rouge, lipstick,
lodgment, major
premise, makeready,
makeup, making ready,
manufacture,
marriage portion, mascara, material basis,
materialization,
minor premise, mobilization, mooring, mopboard, mudpack, nadir, nail polish, new departure,
oncoming, onset, opening, organization, organizing, origin, origination, outbreak, outset, paint, pavement, peopling, philosopheme, philosophical
proposition, pillar,
planning, plantation, population, portion, position, postulate, postulation, postulatum, powder, powder puff, prearrangement, preliminaries, preliminary, preliminary
act, preliminary step, premise, prep, preparation, preparatory
study, preparing,
prepping, prerequisite, presupposition, pretreatment, primary, principle, processing, propaedeutic, proposition, propositional
function, provision,
puff, purpose, radical, raison d'etre, rationale, readying, realization, reason, rest, right, riprap, rock, rock bottom, rouge, rudiment, running start,
seat, send-off, setting in
motion, setting-up, settlement, settling, shoemold, sill, sole, solid ground, solid rock,
spadework, square one,
start, start-off, starting
point, statement,
stereobate, stylobate, substance, substratum, substruction, substructure, sumption, supposal, take-off, talcum, talcum powder, terra
firma, theorem, thesis, thirds, toe, tower, training, treatment, trial, truth table,
truth-function, truth-value, tryout, underbuilding, undercarriage, undergirding, underlying, underpinning, understruction, understructure, vanishing
cream, vanity case, wainscot, war paint, warm-up,
warrant