Founded

How to spell founded

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce founded

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does founded mean?

1. verbEstablished or set up an organisation, institution, or settlement, especially for the first time.
2. verbBased or grounded on a particular principle, idea, or set of facts.

Founded in a sentence

• The charity was founded in 1952 by a group of retired teachers.

• Her argument was founded on years of careful research.

• Two brothers founded the bakery on the corner of the high street.

• The policy is founded on the simple principle of fairness.

Where does founded come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past tense of 'found', meaning to establish, which came into English in the 1300s from the Old French verb 'fonder'. That French word descended from the Latin 'fundare', meaning 'to lay the bottom or base of something', built directly on the noun 'fundus', meaning 'bottom, foundation, or piece of land'. The literal idea was physical: to set the lowest course of a building, the base on which everything else rests. From that grounded sense it broadened to mean establishing an institution, a town, or a company, since each is figuratively given a firm base. The same 'fundus' root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'fundamental', 'foundation', and 'profound', which can help fix the single 'd' before the '-ed': it is found plus ed, not 'foundered' (to stumble or sink), a word writers sometimes confuse it with.

How the word is built

• found (to establish, from Latin fundare: to lay a base)
• -ed (past tense suffix)