founder

/ˈfaʊndər/

/ˈfaʊndə/

Other forms: founders; foundered; foundering

The person who creates an organization or a company is known as the founder. Founder is also a verb meaning "fail miserably," which is something a company's founder hopes the company will never do.

As a noun, founder means "the beginner or originator of something." You might talk about the founder of a nation, the founder of club, or the founder of a website. As a verb, founder can mean “stumble,” like when you trip and fall, but more generally it means "collapse or fall apart." A sports team might founder by slumping on a ten-game losing streak; a ship that sinks in a bad storm can be said to have foundered at sea.

Definitions of founder

1. noun

   a person who founds or establishes some institution
   synonyms: beginner, father, founding father

   types:

   cofounder

   one of a group of founders

   coloniser, colonizer

   someone who helps to found a colony

   foundress

   a woman founder

   type of:

   conceiver, mastermind, originator

   someone who creates new things
2. verb

   sink below the surface
   type of:

   go down, go under, settle, sink

   go under, "The raft sank and its occupants drowned"
3. verb

   break down, literally or metaphorically
   synonyms: break, cave in, collapse, fall in, give, give way

   abandon, give up

   stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims

   burst, collapse

   cause to burst

   types:

   go off, implode

   burst inward

   buckle, crumple

   fold or collapse

   flop

   fall loosely

   break

   curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves

   sink, slide down, slump

   fall or sink heavily

   type of:

   change

   undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
4. verb

   fail utterly; collapse
   “The project foundered”

   synonyms: fall flat, fall through, flop

   type of:

   fail, go wrong, miscarry

   be unsuccessful
5. verb

   stumble and nearly fall
   “the horses foundered”

   type of:

   stumble, trip

   miss a step and fall or nearly fall
6. noun

   a worker who makes metal castings
   types:

   bell founder

   a person who casts metal bells

   type of:

   skilled worker, skilled workman, trained worker

   a worker who has acquired special skills
7. noun

   inflammation of the laminated tissue that attaches the hoof to the foot of a horse
   synonyms: laminitis

   type of:

   inflammation, redness, rubor

   a response of body tissues to injury or irritation; characterized by pain and swelling and redness and heat