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

On a podcast announcing the partnership, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said the AI buildout is similar to the railroad and the internet in providing what will be critical infrastructure to the economy.

Read more on Barron's

Meanwhile, Friday’s selloff has revived concerns over the robustness of the crypto infrastructure.

Read more on MarketWatch

Large technology companies are spending furiously on artificial-intelligence infrastructure — despite the associated revenue not being there yet.

Read more on MarketWatch

"Having teams capable of diagnosing and responding rapidly to network failures is key to maintaining public trust and keeping the UK's digital infrastructure running smoothly."

Read more on BBC

Yet the New Deal stabilized the financial system, created Social Security, legalized collective bargaining and built public infrastructure, blazing the path for another capitalist boom during and after World War II.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• base 
• framework