foundational

adjective

foun·​da·​tion·​al fau̇n-ˈdā-sh(ə-)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 Logistics Maze, Revisited The foundational questions from 2020 still come first. — Michael Wee, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026

Several generations of jam bands cite Little Feat as foundational, although almost none has come close to matching the group’s seamless stylistic range and command of percolating grooves and noodling-free improvisations. — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Aug. 2026

Sleep is foundational to almost every dimension of health, from mood and cognition to heart function. — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 July 2026

Wikipedia became a foundational text for machine-learning models designed to summarize and answer questions using information drawn from other online sources. — Carson Griffith, New Yorker, 30 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for foundational

• formational
• gestational
• gradational
• locational
• mutational
• notational
• relational
• rotational
• sensational
• translational
• vibrational
• vocational