Word of the Day

: April 15, 2018

founder

verb FOUN-der

What It Means

1 : to make or become disabled or lame

2 : to give way : collapse

3 : to become submerged : sink

4 : to come to grief : fail

founder in Context

As the vessel began to founder, the captain ordered everyone on board to prepare to abandon ship.

"If you adore New York City, you can't stand Los Angeles—and vice-versa, or so the myth goes. But the Jennifer Aniston-Justin Theroux marriage, according to People, may have foundered on just that urban divide." — Michael H. Hodges, The Detroit News, 17 Feb. 2018

Did You Know?

Founder comes from Middle English foundren, meaning "to send to the bottom" or "collapse." That word came from the Middle French verb fondrer, and ultimately from the Latin noun fundus, meaning "bottom." When something founders, it usually hits the bottom in one sense or another. A foundering horse—that is, a disabled one—is likely to collapse to the ground. When a ship founders, it sinks to the bottom of the sea. Founder has a broader, figurative sense, too—if someone's marriage or career is foundering, it isn't doing well and is therefore headed downward.