Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who founds or establishes.
  • noun An originator; one from whom anything derives its beginning; an author: as, the founder of a sect of philosophers; the founder of a family.
  • noun One who establishes by endowment; one who provides a permanent fund for any purpose: as, the founder of a college or hospital.
  • noun A creator; a maker.
  • noun One who founds metals, or articles of metal or glass (the material of which is called metal); a caster: as, a founder of cannon, bells, printing-types, etc.
  • noun In farriery, lameness caused by inflammation within the hoof of a horse; laminitis. Also called closh.
  • In golf, to drive the ball into the ground by turning in the face of the club when striking.
  • Nautical, to fill or become filled and sink, as a ship.
  • Hence To fail; miscarry.
  • To trip; stumble; go lame, as a horse.
  • Naut., to cause to fill and sink, as a ship.
  • To cause internal inflammation in the feet of, as a horse, so as to disable or lame him.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a foundation; an author; one from whom anything originates; one who endows.
  • noun One who founds; one who casts metals in various forms; a caster.
  • noun Same as Facing, 4.
  • noun a kind of sand suitable for purposes of molding.
  • transitive verb To cause internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or limbs of (a horse), so as to disable or lame him.
  • intransitive verb (Naut.) To become filled with water, and sink, as a ship.
  • intransitive verb To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
  • intransitive verb To fail; to miscarry.
  • noun A lameness in the foot of a horse, occasioned by inflammation; closh.
  • noun An inflammatory fever of the body, or acute rheumatism. See chest ffounder.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a foundation; an author; one from whom something originates; one who endows.
  • noun genetics Someone for whose parents one has no data.
  • noun The iron worker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
  • verb intransitive Of a ship, to fill with water and sink.
  • verb intransitive To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
  • verb intransitive To fail; to miscarry.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun inflammation of the laminated tissue that attaches the hoof to the foot of a horse
  • verb stumble and nearly fall
  • verb sink below the surface
  • verb break down, literally or metaphorically
  • noun a worker who makes metal castings
  • noun a person who founds or establishes some institution
  • verb fail utterly; collapse

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French fondeur, from Latin fundātor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French fondeur, from Latin fundo ("pour, melt, cast")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French fondrer ("send to the bottom"), from Latin fundus ("bottom")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word founder.

Examples

  • As is generally the case with a Daptone release, the album's producer is Bosco Mann, the label founder and Dap-Kings bassist, who also goes by his real name, Gabriel Roth.

    NYT > Home Page By THE NEW YORK TIMES 2010

  • As is generally the case with a Daptone release, the album's producer is Bosco Mann, the label founder and Dap-Kings bassist, who also goes by his real name, Gabriel Roth.

    NYT > Home Page By THE NEW YORK TIMES 2010

  • As is generally the case with a Daptone release, the album's producer is Bosco Mann, the label founder and Dap-Kings bassist, who also goes by his real name, Gabriel Roth.

    NYT > Home Page By THE NEW YORK TIMES 2010

  • As is generally the case with a Daptone release, the album's producer is Bosco Mann, the label founder and Dap-Kings bassist, who also goes by his real name, Gabriel Roth.

    NYT > Home Page By THE NEW YORK TIMES 2010

  • Rick Rubin's severe, thrashing beat to proper effect; Hov courteously brought his instant-quotation A-game for his label founder's return to rap.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • As is generally the case with a Daptone release, the album's producer is Bosco Mann, the label founder and Dap-Kings bassist, who also goes by his real name, Gabriel Roth.

    NYT > Home Page By THE NEW YORK TIMES 2010

  • The story of Bertram Brown and Freedom Sounds began in 1975 when the label founder / producer took singer Philip Frazer into the studio with the local band, Soul Syndicate, led by guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith.

    Jammin Reggae Archives 2008

  • Dogtopia founder is there for dog day care franchisees - USATODAY. com

    Dogtopia founder is there for dog day care franchisees 2009

  • Dogtopia founder is there for dog day care franchisees

    Dogtopia founder is there for dog day care franchisees 2009

  • The defence of their founder is the first cause, which in every age has exercised the zeal and industry of the civilians.

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • WeirdNet, how you tempt me.

    August 19, 2008

  • “You are the New Sun. You will be returned to your Urth, and the White Fountain will go with you. The death agonies of the world you know will be offered to the Increate. And they will be indescribable—continents will founder, as has been said. Much that is beautiful will perish, and with it most of your race; but your home will be reborn.”

    —Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun

    September 30, 2008

  • "a person who casts cannon." (see also comments on foundery)

    October 9, 2008

  • Just learned this verb-form from the title of a GM Hopkins poem: "The Loss of the Eurydice: Foundered March 24. 1878" I'm trying to find the poem's publication/written date. The ship sunk in 1878, he died in 1889 so It must be sometime between those.

    I found the poem because he made up and used daredeath in it. Welcome home, little compound orphan.

    October 31, 2015