foundational

adjective

foun·​da·​tion·​al fau̇n-ˈdā-shnəl 

-shə-nᵊl

: of, relating to, or forming or serving as a base or foundation : fundamental

foundational principles/doctrines

These foundational volumes proved to be, each in its own way, enabling gestures for the growth of sophisticated theories and critical practices in African, Caribbean, and African American literatures.

—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Property was, in a sense, foundational to culture, since English political economy rested on the private ownership of land, and the political economy, in turn, largely structured social relations.

—Jill Lepore

Philosophy is a foundational discipline. Not only does it do the spadework that makes the construction of other disciplines possible; it also pays constant attention to the foundations of those disciplines as they are practiced.

—Cognitive Science

foundationally adverb

Examples of foundational in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The foundational ideas behind energy-efficient computation, however, have been developed as far back as 1991. —Anna Herr, IEEE Spectrum, 15 May 2024

Pasta al pomodoro, a foundational dish of Italian cooking, is officially less than two centuries old, and neither of its two main ingredients is native to the region. —Ligaya Mishan Anthony Cotsifas Emily Woo Zeller Tanya Pérez Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 13 May 2024

Yes, foundational, as in the kind of piece that seemingly ever team in baseball has. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024

For a glimpse into some foundational aspects that were used from Day 1 for previous first-year quarterbacks, four coaches — three of whom worked with quarterbacks who won AP Offensive Rookie of the Year awards — and one general manager were polled. —Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2024

What to know for offseason: As a foundational piece for the Heat who is still a few years away from turning 30, the expectation is that Adebayo will receive a lucrative extension from the organization this offseason to keep him in Miami for years to come. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 10 May 2024

Encourage officials to get this foundational metric right for our collective society, not for industry advocates. —Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 May 2024

To name something—to separate it from the rest of existence and bestow a label on it—is a foundational act. —Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024

In the last case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, the justices once again heard from former President Donald Trump, this time to consider a question that strikes at a foundational principle of American democracy. —Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined above