Etymology From Middle French fondrer (“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus (“bottom”).
1
Of a ship To flood with water and sink.
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.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
This ended, in prolonged solemn tones, like the continual tolling of a bell in a ship that is foundering at sea in a fog—in such tones he commenced reading the following hymn;(...)1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 9, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
1 more example
Amongst the battleships, things are rather different. Barham led a valiant charge, but suffered for it; she will founder under tow in the Thames estuary shallows, eventually being refloated and refitted after the war.2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 27:33 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2022:
2
Especially, Of horses To fall; to stumble and go lame.
3
To fail; to miscarry.
All his tricks founder.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
The other ambitions, and much of Prescott's plan, foundered just south of Hatfield that October, when a GNER express derailed on a shattered rail […], plunging the railway into a crisis that led to private track owner Railtrack being put into administration.2024 September 4, Philip Haigh, “Can public-private partnerships be made to deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 52:
We found a strong Tide setting out of the Streights to the Northward, and like to founder our Ship.1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 82:
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 […]1744, William Smith, A New Voyage to Guinea, page 167, quoted in The Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds Of The Slave Trade, Robert Harms, 2008
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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
To disable or lame (a horse) by causing internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or limbs.
As the Founders saw it, the great driver of freedom was knowledge.2025 April 26, Simon Schama, “The war on knowledge”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:
founder
noun
Etymology From Old French fondeur, from Latin fundātor, equivalent to found + -er.
1
One who founds or establishes (a company, project, organisation, state, etc.).
The founder of Facebook is Mark Zuckerberg.
As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]1765, William Blackstone, “Of Corporations”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 469:
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Young people love to idolize their predecessors. [Steve] Jobs was Silicon Valley's idol of choice for decades, but to the next generation of startup founders, his legacy feels about as old as Web 1.0.2022 January 13, Arielle Pardes, “Who Do Young Entrepreneurs Look Up To? Elon Musk”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Jun 2023:
Chris Printup, a founder of the streetwear brand Born X Raised, which became a fixture on the Los Angeles fashion scene, died on Wednesday morning at a hospital in Albuquerque. He was 42.2023 June 28, Livia Albeck-Ripka, “Chris Printup, Founder of Streetwear Brand Born X Raised, Dies at 42”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Jul 2023:
2
Biology, Genetics, Medicine, Natural sciences, Sciences A common ancestor of some population (especially one with a certain genetic mutation).
a founder population
the founder effect
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The sickle cell mutation today can be found in five different haplotypes, leading to the conclusion that the mutation appeared independently five times in five different founders.2006 June 1, Dennis Drayna, “Founder Mutations”, in Scientific American, New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature America, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2023:
Among the Ashkenazi Jews in the positive group, 81 percent had one of the three founder mutations, suggesting that 23andMe's test could be helpful for them.2019 April 16, Heather Murphy, “Don't Count on 23andMe to Detect Most Breast Cancer Risks, Study Warns”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Oct 2022:
The gene mutation is likely to have come from a founder individual who lived at least 250 years ago, the paper published in the European Journal of Human Genetics said.2023 March 16, Nadeem Badshah, “One in a hundred people with Orkney heritage have gene increasing risk of cancer”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2023:
Etymology From Middle French fondeur, from Latin fundo (“pour, melt, cast”).
1
The iron worker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
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.1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 161:
2
One who casts metals in various forms; a caster.
a founder of cannon, bells, hardware, or printing types
Derived terms
bell founder, bell-founder, type founder, type-founder
founder
noun
Etymology From Middle French fondrer (“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus (“bottom”).
1
Biology, Medicine, Natural sciences, Pathology, Sciences, Veterinary, Zoology A severe laminitis of a horse, caused by untreated internal inflammation in the hooves.