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

Administration officials have asked Anthropic to hold off on expanding access to Mythos to more companies and organizations that manage critical digital infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Akamai Technologies secured a $1.8 billion, seven-year commitment for cloud infrastructure services from a leading AI model provider.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

Ultimately, Elkind argued, L.A. should have a more centralized decision-making authority so Metro would not have to beg small cities for permits for regionally important infrastructure projects.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026

Shares of the neocloud company Iren soared after the bell Thursday following a slew of fresh developments: an earnings report, an acquisition and a critical new artificial-intelligence infrastructure partnership with Nvidia.

From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026

In his systematic fashion he continued to refine the company’s infrastructure and services—and continued to be extraordinarily successful at escorting amateur climbers to the summits of big, remote mountains.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• base
• framework