Foundation

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Foundation \Foun*da"tion\, n. [F. fondation, L. fundatio. See
     {Found} to establish.]
     1. The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to
        erect.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     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.
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              Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone . .
              . a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. --Is.
                                                    xxviii. 16.
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              The foundation of a free common wealth. --Motley.
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     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.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable
        institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment.
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              He was entered on the foundation of Westminster.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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     5. That which is founded, or established by endowment; an
        endowed institution or charity; as, the Ford Foundation.
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              Against the canon laws of our foundation. --Milton.
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     {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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  foundation
       n 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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  238 Moby Thesaurus words for "foundation":
     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
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  foundation
       
          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).
       
       

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  FOUNDATION. This word, in the English law, is taken in two senses, fundatio 
  incipiens, and fundatio perficiens. As to its political capacity, an act of 
  incorporation is metaphorically called its foundation but as to its 
  dotation, the first gift of revenues is called the foundation. 10 Co. 23, a.