founder Definition

founder¹
noun

1. Someone who founds or endows an institution, etc.

Thesaurus: inventor, organizer, initiator, originator, father, mother, patriarch, matriarch, benefactor, designer, author, architect.

Etymology: 14c: from found¹.

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founder²
verb, intr foundered, foundering

1. Said of a ship: to sink.
2. Said of a vehicle, etc: to get stuck in mud, etc.
3. Said of a horse: to go lame.
4. Said of a business, scheme, etc: to fail.

Etymology: 14c: from French fondrer to plunge to the bottom.

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founder³
noun

1. A person whose job is to make metal castings.

Example: bell-founder

Etymology: 15c: from found².