bedrock C2+ Topic:Plants & Agriculture Also spelled bed-rock US /ˈbɛdˌrɑk/ UK /ˈbɛdrɒk/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the solid rock beneath soil; figuratively, a fundamental basis Mutual trust is the bedrock of any partnership. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the solid rock beneath... foundationbasisgroundworkbasesubstratumfundamentalsroot ↔ Opposites surfacesuperstructure Word family Related forms bedrock Etymology AI details A compound of bed (in the geological sense 'a layer or stratum') + rock. The figurative sense 'fundamental basis' developed in the 19th century. bedd Old English rocca Old French View etymology graph -> Topics Plants & Agriculture External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # bedrock **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈbɛdˌrɑk/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈbɛdrɒk/ ## Meanings 1. the solid rock beneath soil; figuratively, a fundamental basis ## Examples - Mutual trust is the bedrock of any partnership. ## Synonyms - foundation - basis - groundwork - base - substratum - fundamentals - root ## Antonyms - surface - superstructure ## Related Forms - bed - rock ## Roots and Affixes - Root: bedd - Root: rocca ## Etymology A compound of bed (in the geological sense 'a layer or stratum') + rock. The figurative sense 'fundamental basis' developed in the 19th century. ## AI Etymology bedrock is a compound of bed (in the geological sense 'a layer or stratum') + rock. The figurative sense 'fundamental basis' developed in the 19th century. Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the noun sense is "the solid rock beneath soil; figuratively, a fundamental basis", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as bed, rock, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old English bedd, Old French rocca, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material. ## Topics - Plants & Agriculture markdown