English
foundry
Foundry comes from French fondre ‘to melt, melt down, smelt’, from Proto-Italic *hundō ‘to pour out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-‘to pour’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hundō‘to pour out’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundere‘to melt’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fondre‘to melt’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfondre‘to melt, melt down, smelt’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentfonderie
- Englishearliest quotation 1944foundry
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-‘to pour’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hundō‘to pour out’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundere‘to melt’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fondre‘to melt’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfondre‘to melt, melt down, smelt’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentfonderie
- Englishearliest quotation 1944foundry
Earliest quotation: 1944, and December, Some Memories of Crewe Works—II: “So after learning a great deal about iron founding…”
Equivalent to found ‘to melt (metals)’ + -ery ‘place’
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’
yet, confused, refuse, gut, fuse, font, diffusion, infusion, perfusion, profusion, effusive, effusion, 40 more
through Proto-Italic *hundō ‘to pour out’
confusion, fusion, confuse, refund, diffuse, funnel, infuse, confound, 42 more
through French fondre ‘to melt, melt down, smelt’
Today it means
noun A facility that melts metals in special furnaces and pours the molten metal into molds to make products. Foundries are usually specified according to the type of metal dealt with: iron foundry, brass foundry, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- / foundry