infrastructure

English

Etymology

[1887] Borrowed from French infrastructure, equivalent to infra- +‎ structure.

Pronunciation

Noun

infrastructure (countable and uncountable, plural infrastructures)

  1. An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system.
    The infrastructure of parasitic tyranny depends on secrecy in order to be effective.
  2. The basic facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society.
    • 2015 March 1, John Oliver, “Infrastructure”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 2, episode 4, 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.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Translations

References

French

Etymology

From infra- +‎ structure.

Noun

infrastructure f (plural infrastructures)

  1. infrastructure (an underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system) [from 1875]

Further reading

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