| foundation | |
| 1. n. The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect. | |
| The foundation of his institute has been wrought with difficulty. | |
| 2. n. 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. | |
| 3. n. (figurative) The result of the work to begin something; that which stabilizes and allows an enterprise or system to develop. | |
| 4. n. (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. | |
| 5. n. (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. | |
| The foundations of this construction have been laid out. | |
| 6. n. A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment. | |
| 7. n. That which is founded, or established by endowment; an endowed institution or charity. | |
| The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is the parent organization of the Wiktionary collaborative project. | |
| 8. n. (cosmetics) Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture. | |
| 9. n. A basis for social bodies or intellectual disciplines. | |
