"foundations" in the noun sense

1. foundation

the basis on which something is grounded

"there is little foundation for his objections"

2. foundation

an institution supported by an endowment

3. foundation, base, fundament, foot, groundwork, substructure, understructure

lowest support of a structure

"it was built on a base of solid rock"

"he stood at the foot of the tower"

4. foundation, grounding

education or instruction in the fundamentals of a field of knowledge

"he lacks the foundation necessary for advanced study"

"a good grounding in mathematics"

5. basis, base, foundation, fundament, groundwork, cornerstone

the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained

"the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture"

6. foundation garment, foundation

a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the body

7. initiation, founding, foundation, institution, origination, creation, innovation, introduction, instauration

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"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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