1. [noun] The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect.
2. [noun] 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; underbuilding.
3. [noun] (figurative) The result of the work to begin something; that which stabilizes and allows an enterprise or system to develop.
4. [noun] (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. [noun] (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.
6. [noun] A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment.
7. [noun] That which is founded, or established by endowment; an endowed institution or charity.
8. [noun] (cosmetics) Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture.
9. [noun] A basis for social bodies or intellectual disciplines.
10. [noun] The basis on which something is grounded; 'there is little foundation for his objections'.
11. [noun] An institution supported by an endowment.
12. [noun] Lowest support of a structure; 'it was built on a base of solid rock'; 'he stood at the foot of the tower'.
13. [noun] Education or instruction in the fundamentals of a field of knowledge; 'he lacks the foundation necessary for advanced study'; 'a good grounding in mathematics'.
14. [noun] The fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained; 'the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture'.
15. [noun] A woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the body.
16. [noun] 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'.
