founder B2 Topic:People & Society US /ˈfæʊ̯n.də/ UK /ˈfaʊ̯n.dəː/ See IPA manual Freq #9824 Meanings 1 noun A person who starts or establishes a company, organization, or institution. Mark Zuckerberg is the founder of Facebook. 2 verb (Of a ship) to fill with water and sink. The old ship foundered in the storm and sank within minutes. 3 verb To fail completely, especially after a difficult start. The peace talks foundered when neither side would compromise. Thesaurus Word family Forms founderedfounderingfounders Derived forms bell-founderbellfounderbrassfounderbronzefoundercofounderfoundererfounderitisfounderousfoundershipfoundressironfounderletterfounder Etymology AI details From Middle French fondrer (“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus (“bottom”). Topics People & Society External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # founder **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun, verb **IPA (US):** /ˈfæʊ̯n.də/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈfaʊ̯n.dəː/ **Frequency rank:** 9824 ## Meanings 1. A person who starts or establishes a company, organization, or institution. 2. (Of a ship) to fill with water and sink. 3. To fail completely, especially after a difficult start. ## Examples - Mark Zuckerberg is the founder of Facebook. - The old ship foundered in the storm and sank within minutes. - The peace talks foundered when neither side would compromise. ## Derived Forms - bell-founder - bellfounder - brassfounder - bronzefounder - cofounder - founderer - founderitis - founderous - foundership - foundress - ironfounder - letterfounder ## Etymology From Middle French fondrer (“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus (“bottom”). ## AI Etymology Founder comes from Middle French fondrer (“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus (“bottom”). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as bell-founder, bellfounder, brassfounder, and bronzefounder. In present use it covers a person who starts or establishes a company, organization, or institution, (Of a ship) to fill with water and sink, and to fail completely, especially after a difficult start. ## Topics - People & Society markdown