Definitions of foundation:

• noun:   lowest support of a structure
• noun:   education or instruction in the fundamentals of a field of knowledge

  Example: "He lacks the foundation necessary for advanced study"

• noun:   an institution supported by an endowment
• noun:   the basis on which something is grounded

  Example: "There is little foundation for his objections"

• noun:   a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the body
• noun:   the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new

  Example: "The foundation of a new scientific society"

• noun:   the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained