founder

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Noun 1.2.1.1 Translations 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Noun 1.3.1.1 Translations 1.4 Etymology 3 1.4.1 Verb 1.4.1.1 Translations 1.4.2 Usage notes

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -aʊndə(r)

[edit] Etymology 1

From Old French fondeor, from Latin fundātor

[edit] Noun

founder (plural founders)

1. One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a foundation; an author; one from whom something originates; one who endows.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle French fondeur, from Latin fundo (“‘pour, melt, cast’”)

[edit] Noun

founder (plural founders)

1. The iron worker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
   • 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, p. 161.

     The term 'founder' was applied in the British iron industry long afterwards to the ironworker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Etymology 3

From Middle French fondrer (“‘send to the bottom’”), from Latin fundus (“‘bottom’”)

[edit] Verb

to founder (third-person singular simple present founders, present participle foundering, simple past and past participle foundered)

1. Fill with water and sink.
   • 1719: Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship but we saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by a ship foundering in the sea.

2. To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
3. To fail; to miscarry.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Usage notes

Frequently confused with flounder. Both may be applied to the same situation, the difference is the severity of the action: floundering (struggling to maintain position) comes first, followed by foundering (losing it by falling, sinking or failing).