founder

Etymology

Definitions

1. 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: […]
   • 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.
2. 2

   A common ancestor of some population (especially one with a certain genetic mutation).

   • a founder population
   • the founder effect
   • 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.
3. 3

   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.
4. ›+ 8 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      One who casts metals in various forms

      One who casts metals in various forms; a caster.

      • a founder of cannon, bells, hardware, or printing types
   2. 5

      A severe laminitis of a horse, caused by untreated internal inflammation in the hooves.

   3. 6

      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.
      • 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;(...)
      • 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.
   4. 7

      To fall

      To fall; to stumble and go lame.

   5. 8

      To fail

      To fail; to miscarry.

      • All his tricks founder.
   6. 9

      To cause to flood and sink, as a ship.

      • We found a strong Tide setting out of the Streights to the Northward, and like to founder our Ship.
      • 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 […]
   7. 10

      To disable or lame (a horse) by causing internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or…

      To disable or lame (a horse) by causing internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or limbs.

   8. 11

      A Founding Father.

      • As the Founders saw it, the great driver of freedom was knowledge.

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