infrastructure

[in-fruh-struhk-cher]

noun

1. the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, as transportation and communication systems, power plants, and schools.

   Investments in infrastructure helped the U.S. economy recover from the Great Depression.

2. the basic, underlying framework or features of a system or organization.

   Over the years, as the incidence of cancer increased, the infrastructure of the hospital was developed to accommodate the new cases.

   Synonyms: support, foundation, basis

3. the military installations of a country.

   We could do much with just a fraction of the billions spent to maintain our robust overseas infrastructure.

infrastructure

/ ˈɪnfrəˌstrʌktʃə /

noun

1. the basic structure of an organization, system, etc

2. the stock of fixed capital equipment in a country, including factories, roads, schools, etc, considered as a determinant of economic growth

Other Word Forms

• infrastructural adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of infrastructure¹

First recorded in 1925–30; infra + structure

Example Sentences

AstraZeneca and Merck recently axed plans for sizeable infrastructure investment in Britain, with the US pharma group citing UK drugs prices as a major reason for its U-turn.

Read more on Barron's

Big tech companies are streaming into debt markets to fund gigantic investments in data centers, chips and other AI-related infrastructure.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Artists, mass media, infrastructure — the thriving triad was extraordinary to watch erupt.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A vaccination programme began in mid-September -- a challenge in a country four times the size of France and where transportation infrastructure is limited and often in poor condition.

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China is Laos' dominant economic partner through infrastructure investments including a railway linking Vientiane and Kunming, in Yunnan province, and a wider economic corridor.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• base 
• framework