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Webster 1913 Edition

Founder

Found′er

,
Noun.
[Cf. OF.
fondeor
, F.
fondateur
, L.
fundator
.]
One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a foundation; an author; one from whom anything originates; one who endows.

Found′er

,
Noun.
[From
Found
to cast.]
One who founds; one who casts metals in various forms; a caster;
as, a
founder
of cannon, bells, hardware, or types
.
Fonder’s dust
.
Same as
Facing
, 4.
–
Founder's sand
,
a kind of sand suitable for purposes of molding.

Found′er

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Foundered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Foundering
.]
[OF.
fondrer
to fall in, cf. F.
s'effondrer
, fr.
fond
bottom, L.
fundus
. See
Found
to establish.]
1.
(Naut.)
To become filled with water, and sink, as a ship.
2.
To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
For which his horse fearé gan to turn,
And leep aside, and
foundrede
as he leep.
Chaucer.
3.
To fail; to miscarry.
“All his tricks founder.”
Shak.

Found′er

,
Verb.
T.
To cause internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or limbs of (a horse), so as to disable or lame him.

Found′er

,
Noun.
(Far.)
(a)
A lameness in the foot of a horse, occasioned by inflammation; closh.
(b)
An inflammatory fever of the body, or acute rheumatism;
as, chest
founder
. See
Chest ffounder
.
James White.

Webster 1828 Edition

Founder

FOUND'ER

, n
1.
One that founds, establishes and erects; one that lays a foundation; as the founder of a temple or city.
2.
One who begins; an author; one from whom any thing originates; as the founder of a sect of philosophers; the founder of a family or race.
3.
One who endows; one who furnishes a permanent fund for the support of an institution; as the founder of a college or hospital.
4.
A caster; one who casts metals in various forms; as a founder of cannon, belles, hardware, printing types, &c.

FOUND'ER

, v.i.
1.
In seamen's language, to fill or be filled and sink, as a ship.
2.
To fail; to miscarry.
3.
To trip; to fell.

FOUND'ER

,
Verb.
T.
To cause internal inflammation and great soreness in the feet of a horse, so as to disable or lame him.

Definition 2024

founder

founder

English

Noun

founder ‎(plural founders)

  1. One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a foundation; an author; one from whom something originates; one who endows.
  2. (genetics) Someone for whose parents one has no data.
Antonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle French fondeur, from Latin fundo ‎(“pour, melt, cast”)

Noun

founder ‎(plural founders)

  1. The iron worker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
    • 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, p. 161.
      The term 'founder' was applied in the British iron industry long afterwards to the ironworker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
  2. One who casts metals in various forms; a caster.
    a founder of cannon, bells, hardware, or printing types
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle French fondrer ‎(“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus ‎(“bottom”)

Verb

founder ‎(third-person singular simple present founders, present participle foundering, simple past and past participle foundered)

  1. (intransitive) Of a ship, to fill with water and sink.
    • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
      We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship but we saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by a ship foundering in the sea.
  2. (intransitive) To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
  3. (intransitive) To fail; to miscarry.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
      All his tricks founder.
  4. (transitive, archaic, nautical) To cause to fill and sink, as a ship.
    • 1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, Volume I, page 82
      We found a strong Tide setting out of the Streights to the Northward, and like to founder our Ship.
    • 1744, William Smith, A New Voyage to Guinea, page 167, quoted in in The Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds Of The Slave Trade, Robert Harms, 2008
      "I was amazed when we came among the breakers (which to me seemed large enough to founder our ship), to see with what wondrous dexterity they carried us through them, and ran their canoes on the top of one of those rolling waves […] "
    • 1932, Hart Crane, "From haunts of Proserpine" (Review of Green River: A Poem for Rafinesque, James Whaler
      But still more disastrous was the storm which foundered his ship in Long Island Sound, swallowing within call of shore his fifty boxes of scientific equipment, his books, manuscripts and funds, the results of years of devoted labor.
  5. (transitive) To disable or lame (a horse) by causing internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or limbs.
Translations

Usage notes

Frequently confused with flounder. Both may be applied to the same situation, the difference is the severity of the action: floundering (struggling to maintain position) comes first, followed by foundering (losing it by falling, sinking or failing).

Anagrams

Old French

Etymology

From Latin fundō.

Verb

founder

  1. (late Anglo-Norman) Alternative spelling of funder

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-d, *-ds, *-dt are modified to t, z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of founder (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive founder avoir foundé
gerund en foundant Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle foundant
past participle foundé
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses		 present fount foundes founde foundons foundez foundent
imperfect foundoie, foundeie, foundoe, foundeve foundoies, foundeies, foundoes, foundeves foundoit, foundeit, foundot, foundeve foundiiens, foundiens foundiiez, foundiez foundoient, foundeient, foundoent, foundevent
preterite foundai foundas founda foundames foundastes founderent
future founderai founderas foundera founderons founderoiz, foundereiz, founderez founderont
conditional founderoie, foundereie founderoies, foundereies founderoit, foundereit founderiiens, founderiens founderiiez, founderiez founderoient, foundereient
compound
tenses		 present perfect Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
past anterior Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle
future perfect Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
conditional perfect Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive que jo que tu qu’il que nos que vos qu’il
simple
tenses		 present fount founz fount foundons foundez foundent
imperfect foundasse foundasses foundast foundissons, foundissiens foundissoiz, foundissez, foundissiez foundassent
compound
tenses		 past Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— founde — foundons foundez —

Etymology

From Old French fondeur, from Latin fundātor.

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈfaʊndɚ/
  • Rhymes: -aʊndə(ɹ)
  • Hyphenation: found‧er

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