infrastructure
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French infrastructure, equivalent to infra- + structure.
Pronunciation edit
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃɚ/
Audio (Southern England) (file) Audio (US) (file)
Noun edit
infrastructure (countable and uncountable, plural infrastructures)
- (systems theory) An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system. [from 1887]
- Synonyms: underbuilding, underframework
- Hyponym: Common Language Infrastructure
- The parasitic tyranny's infrastructure depends on secrecy in order to be effective.
- The basic facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society.
- 2015, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Infrastructure”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 2, episode 4, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:
- Infrastructure: It's our roads, bridges, dams, levees, airports, power grids... basically, anything that can be destroyed in an action movie... The problem is, though, when our infrastructure is not being destroyed by robots and/or saved by Bruce Willis we tend to find it a bit boring.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system
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basic facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society
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Further reading edit
- infrastructure on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
infrastructure f (plural infrastructures)
- infrastructure (an underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system) [from 1875]
Further reading edit
- “infrastructure”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.