foundation
found·da·tion/ˌfaʊ̯nˈdeɪ̯ʃən/noun
foundation is spelled F-O-U-N-D-A-T-I-O-N, 3 syllables: found·da·tion. The wrong spelling people search most is fundation: about 320 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 85 of all searches for the word. Foundation is a noun meaning “The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect”. The plural of foundation is foundations.
How many letters and syllables are in foundation?
| Letters | 10: F-O-U-N-D-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: found·da·tion |
| In writing | 65 times per million words; the 1,636th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, fundation, about 320 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell foundation?
Foundation is spelled F-O-U-N-D-A-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 85 of the searches for foundation in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is foundation?
Foundation appears 65 times per million words in written English, the 1,636th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce foundation?
- US /ˌfaʊ̯nˈdeɪ̯ʃən/
- US [ˌfaʊ̯nˈdeɪ̯ʃn̩]
- /ˌfæʊ̯nˈdeɪ̯ʃən/
Foundation has 3 syllables, split found·da·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-foundation.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with foundation?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as foundation from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/):
- situation
- association
- population
- administration
- operation
- organization
- application
- location
- generation
- conversation
- investigation
- communication
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of foundation
- foundations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foundation mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect.
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.
- 3
The result of the work to begin something; that which stabilizes and allows an enterprise or system to develop.
- 4
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
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.
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
Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate foundation?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of foundation: Found., fdn., fndn..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foundation in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fondation , fondement , assise |
| German | Gründung, Gründen, Stiftung, Stiften , Grundlage, Unterbau |
| Portuguese | fundação , base, fundamento, alicerce |
| Spanish | fundación , cimiento , base |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.