infrastructure

American  

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

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.

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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

• infrastructural
  adjective

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

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides high-performance, low-latency compute for large-scale AI training.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

It expects to launch fundraising for EQT Infrastructure VII during the summer as well.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

According to Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors, investors in search of the next big momentum trade are gravitating back toward speculative stocks following a months-long break.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

Reza Akef, a builder in the Palisades and chair of the Pacific Palisades Community Council’s Infrastructure Committee, said people do consider these incentives in deciding what appliances to buy.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

More precisely, they were trying to shape the future of the cumbersomely named "National Information Infrastructure," the official name for the "information superhighway" that it was presumed would replace the "immature" technology of the Net.

From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by Boyle, James

Related Words

• base
• framework