foundation
Direct German Translations & Equivalents:
Click any term below to jump straight to its full vocabulary entry in German:
Definitions & Usage
The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect.
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; underbuilding.
(figurative) The result of the work to begin something; that which stabilizes and allows an enterprise or system to develop.
(card games) In solitaire or patience games, one of the piles of cards that the player attempts to build, usually holding all cards of a suit in ascending order.
(architecture) The lowest and supporting part or member of a wall, including the base course and footing courses; in a frame house, the whole substructure of masonry.
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.
(cosmetics) Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture.
A basis for social bodies or intellectual disciplines.
Notable Literary & Historical Quotes
“Aye Madam to be sure that is the Provoking circumstance—without Foundation—yes yes—there's the mortification indeed—for when a slanderous story is believed against one—there certainly is no comfort like the consciousness of having deserved it——”
— 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:
“Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.”
— 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
“The implication is that the Gandhian model of growth is possible, now that Nehru's investment strategy had already laid a strong foundation for economic growth.”
— 2006, K P Yadav, Economic Planning And Restructuring, Sarup & Sons, →ISBN, page 44: