foundational

American

[foun-dey-shuh-nl] / faʊnˈdeɪ ʃə nl /

Rarely foundationary

adjective

of or relating to the basis or groundwork on which something rests or is built; needing to be understood or established at the beginning.

We believe that fostering a strong local community is a foundational component of our inner-city scholarship program, guiding everything else we do.

Other Word Forms

foundationally adverb

Etymology

Origin of foundational

foundation ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

China’s “microelectronics, their motors, their rare earth, their magnets—which is foundational to robotics—they are the world’s best,” Huang said in a podcast in March.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

The researchers see it as a foundational design that could eventually be developed into practical tools for clinical and laboratory use.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

As the history of absentee voting during the Civil War era shows, states have long permitted post–Election Day receipt of absentee ballots to safeguard voting rights and protect our foundational democratic principles.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

Any renegotiation, in reality, would be extremely complex, given that the foundational agreements involved the UK, Greece, and Turkey as well as representatives from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

Discovery is not in itself a scientific idea but rather an idea that is foundational for science: we might call it a metascientific idea.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023