From Middle English foundacioun, fundacioun, from Old French fondacion, from Latin fundātiō.

• (RP) IPA: /faʊnˈdeɪʃən/, [faʊ̯nˈdeɪ̯ʃn̩]

foundation

1. The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect.

   Synonyms: establishment

   Antonyms: abolition, dissolution, ruination

   The foundation of his institute has been wrought with difficulty.

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; underbuilding.

   Synonyms: basis, groundwork, underbuilding, underframework

   • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:

     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——

3. (figurative) The result of the work to begin something; that which stabilizes and allows an enterprise or system to develop.

   Synonyms: groundwork, platform, stage

4. (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. (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.

   Synonyms: base, groundwall

   The foundations of this construction have been laid out.

6. A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment.
7. 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. (cosmetics) Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture.
9. A basis for social bodies or intellectual disciplines.

• French: fondation
• German: Gründung
• Italian: fondazione
• Portuguese: fundação
• Russian: основа́ние
• Spanish: fundación

• French: fondation, fondement
• German: Grundlage
• Italian: fondamenta
• Portuguese: fundação, base, fundamento, alicerce
• Russian: фунда́мент
• Spanish: cimiento

• Spanish: cimiento

• French: fondation
• German: Fundament, Gründung
• Italian: fondazione
• Portuguese: base
• Russian: цо́коль
• Spanish: cimiento

• French: fondation
• Portuguese: dote
• Russian: фонд

• French: fondation
• German: Stiftung
• Portuguese: fundação
• Russian: фонд
• Spanish: fundación

• French: fond de teint
• German: Foundation, Grundierung
• Portuguese: base
• Russian: тональный крем
• Spanish: base