Noun

(en noun)

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

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.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations . University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}

(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.

(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.

* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 20, author=Nathan Rabin, work=The Onion AV Club

, title= TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992) , passage=“Marge Gets A Job” opens with the foundation of the Simpson house tilting perilously to one side, making the family homestead look like the suburban equivalent of the Leaning Tower Of Pisa. }}

A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment.

That which is founded, or established by endowment; an endowed institution or charity.

(cosmetics) Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture.

A basis for social bodies or intellectual disciplines.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.

Noun

(en noun)

The act of establishing; a ratifying or ordaining; settlement; confirmation.

The state of being established, founded, etc.; fixed state.

That which is established; as a form of government, a permanent organization, business or force, or the place where one is permanently fixed for residence.

(slang) The establishment : the ruling class or authority group in a society; especially, an entrenched authority dedicated to preserving the status quo. Sometimes capitalized: the Establishment.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)

, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}