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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Foundation \Foun*da"tion\, noun [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. --Motley.
3. (Arch.) 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. --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. --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.
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
noun
1: the basis on which something is grounded; "there is little foundation for his objections"
2: an institution supported by an endowment
3: lowest support of a structure; "it was built on a base of solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower" [syn: {foundation}, {base}, {fundament}, {foot}, {groundwork}, {substructure}, {understructure}]
4: 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: {foundation}, {grounding}]
5: 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}, {foundation}, {fundament}, {groundwork}, {cornerstone}]
6: a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the body [syn: {foundation garment}, {foundation}]
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" [syn: {initiation}, {founding}, {foundation}, {institution}, {origination}, {creation}, {innovation}, {introduction}, {instauration}]
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Definitions retrieved from the Open Source DICT English and WordNet 3.0 dictionaries. Click here for database copyright information.
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