infrastructure

American  

[in-fruh-struhk-cher] / ˈɪn frəˌstrʌk tʃər /

noun

infrastructures plural

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.

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infrastructure British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• infrastructural
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• infrastructures
  plural

Etymology

Origin of infrastructure

First recorded in 1925–30; infra + structure

Explanation

The infrastructure is the basic foundation or underlying framework of an organization or system. In your house, the infrastructure is the system of beams, weight-bearing walls and the foundation that keeps it standing. Infrastructure often refers to the equipment and structures required by the military or by a country or region. Roads, bridges, and school buildings are part of our nation's infrastructure, and are necessary for the continued growth of our communities. This word was formed as a compound in English, using the prefix infra- "below, underneath."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

infrastructure infrastructures

Since L.A. was awarded the Games almost a decade ago, the 18-year-old watched preparations slowly improve the infrastructure of his hometown.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

"Since paper is already very established in the recycling infrastructure, it's a very obvious solution when we think about how we can improve the sustainability and recyclability of our packaging," explains Dr Arianna Savini.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

He added that it promises to “create thousands of jobs, lower electricity costs for American families, and deliver energy infrastructure needed to power the AI economy.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

“Together, Naver, Nvidia and Brookfield are building sovereign AI infrastructure at the scale needed to fuel Korea’s startups and industries,” Huang said in a joint statement released by Naver on Saturday, Seoul time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Making Egypt pay, therefore, depended on keeping up the infrastructure and social institutions that had already existed for millennia, such as irrigation, flood control, and conscripted labor.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

By contrast stablecoins move through proprietary, fragmented infrastructures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

"When core infrastructures like cloud, AI or platforms are controlled from outside Europe, so are the rules, the data and ultimately the leverage."

From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026

The joint statement outlines the terms of "de-escalation", which includes ceasing "attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side".

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025

The Rural New Deal lays out a far-ranging platform to rebuild the nation’s economically embattled small farms, revitalize rural towns, invest in community infrastructures, fund rural health care and schools, and other urgent priorities.

From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025

Some information technology experts warned that computers would not be able to distinguish the correct meaning of 00, resulting in widespread failure of vital infrastructures.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• base
• framework