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FOUNDATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new
Example:
the foundation of a new scientific society
Synonyms:
creation; foundation; founding; initiation; innovation; instauration; institution; introduction; origination
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("foundation" is a kind of...):
beginning; commencement; start (the act of starting something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foundation"):
authorship; paternity (the act of initiating a new idea or theory or writing)
Derivation:
found (set up or lay the groundwork for)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Lowest support of a structure
Example:
he stood at the foot of the tower
Synonyms:
base; foot; foundation; fundament; groundwork; substructure; understructure
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("foundation" is a kind of...):
support (supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foundation"):
bed (a foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track)
mat; raft; raft foundation (a foundation (usually on soft ground) consisting of an extended layer of reinforced concrete)
Holonyms ("foundation" is a part of...):
construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the body
Synonyms:
foundation; foundation garment
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("foundation" is a kind of...):
undergarment; unmentionable (a garment worn under other garments)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foundation"):
corset; girdle; stays (a woman's close-fitting foundation garment)
roll-on (a woman's foundation garment rolled on to the hips)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained
Example:
the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture
Synonyms:
base; basis; cornerstone; foundation; fundament; groundwork
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("foundation" is a kind of...):
assumption; supposal; supposition (a hypothesis that is taken for granted)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foundation"):
meat and potatoes (the fundamental part)
Holonyms ("foundation" is a part of...):
explanation (thought that makes something comprehensible)
Derivation:
found (use as a basis for; found on)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Education or instruction in the fundamentals of a field of knowledge
Example:
a good grounding in mathematics
Synonyms:
foundation; grounding
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("foundation" is a kind of...):
education (knowledge acquired by learning and instruction)
Sense 6
Meaning:
An institution supported by an endowment
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("foundation" is a kind of...):
financial institution; financial organisation; financial organization (an institution (public or private) that collects funds (from the public or other institutions) and invests them in financial assets)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foundation"):
charity (a foundation created to promote the public good (not for assistance to any particular individuals))
Derivation:
found (set up or found)
Sense 7
Meaning:
The basis on which something is grounded
Example:
there is little foundation for his objections
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Hypernyms ("foundation" is a kind of...):
relation (an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foundation"):
basis; footing; ground (a relation that provides the foundation for something)
grass roots (the essential foundation or source)
Derivation:
found (use as a basis for; found on)
Context examples:
The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation is a national, non-profit health foundation whose mission is declared as the prevention and early detection of cancer through scientific research and education.
(Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, NCI Thesaurus)
The fundamental assumptions underlying an explanation or a relation that provide the foundation for something.
(Basis, NCI Thesaurus)
A better understanding of the biological foundations of these mechanisms may help researchers develop improved treatments to help people forget traumatic events.
(Selective amnesia: how rats and humans are able to actively forget distracting memories, University of Cambridge)
That runs counter to the centuries-long paradigm that has laid the foundation for the environmental sciences.
(New source of global nitrogen discovered: Earth’s bedrock, National Science Foundation)
Relinquish! What! my vocation? My great work? My foundation laid on earth for a mansion in heaven?
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Lucy does not want sense, and that is the foundation on which every thing good may be built.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
I see no probability in it, unless you have any better foundation than what you mention.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The map also provides a foundation for the upcoming new version of Google's ocean maps; it will fill large voids between shipboard depth profiles.
(New map uncovers thousands of unseen seamounts on ocean floor, NSF)
NASA currently is planning to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024, laying the foundation that will eventually enable human exploration of Mars.
(NASA's InSight Detects First Likely 'Quake' on Mars, NASA)
Understanding the foundations of human thought is fascinating for scientists and laypersons alike.
(Smart People Have Better Connected Brains, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
