3 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Foundation \Foun*da"tion\, n. [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}, 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.
--Macaulay.
5. That which is founded, or established by endowment; an
endowed institution or charity.
Against the canon laws of our foundation. --Milton.
{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.
From WordNet r 1.6 [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: lowest supporting part 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}]
4: the fundamental assumptions underlying an explanation; "the
whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture" [syn: {basis},
{base}, {fundament}, {groundwork}, {cornerstone}]
5: a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of
the body [syn: {foundation garment}]
6: starting something for the first time [syn: {initiation}, {founding},
{institution}, {origination}, {creation}, {instauration}]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [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).
more about foundation
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