FOUNDATION • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Foundation

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/faʊndˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Foundation n.

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." "The foundation of a free common wealth."

3.

(Arch.) 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.

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."

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."

Foundation course. See Base course, under Base, n.

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.

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Etymology of 'Foundation'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Foundation" Quotes from Famous Books

... be, not a terror and a scourge to the yeomen and peasants round, but a protection and a guard against the Philistines and Amalekites, and, in due time, his trusty bodyguard of warriors—men who have grown grey beside him through a hundred battles, who are to be the foundation of his national army, and help him to make the Jews one strong ...

— True Words for Brave Men • Charles Kingsley

... made no answer, To their challenge made no answer, Only rose, and slowly turning, Seized the huge rock in his fingers, Tore it from its deep foundation, Poised it in the air a moment, Pitched it sheer into the river, Sheer into the swift Pauwating, Where it still is seen ...

— The Song Of Hiawatha • Henry W. Longfellow

... more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of ...

— The Book of Common Prayer - and The Scottish Liturgy • Church of England

... substructure lay a second foundation, far enough inside the first to leave ample room for cohorts in line of battle to take position on the broad top of the rampart for its defence. Having laid these two foundations at this distance from one another, ...

— Ten Books on Architecture • Vitruvius

... 'His governorship enabled him partly to rid himself of his debts partly to lay the foundation for ...

— Helps to Latin Translation at Sight • Edmund Luce

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