Dictionary

foundry en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• foun'drē
• (US) audio
• /ˈfaʊn.dɹi/

Etymology

From French fonderie. By surface analysis, found (“to melt (metals)”) + -ry (“place; process”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) 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.
   • So after learning a great deal about iron founding and much more about pike fishing, one regretfully took leave of a shop full of kindly characters and proceeded to a worse lot of odours in the brass foundry. […] So after a short spell in the brass foundry the wisest course was to follow with a similar period in the steel foundry, where much important work was done, including the manufacture of centres for wheels. 1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 343:
2. (countable, uncountable) The act, process, or art of casting metals; founding.
3. (countable, uncountable) A plant that produces chips out of semiconductors in the microelectronics industry.
   • Chang gained trust by allaying fears that TSMC would steal designs, as pure-play foundries have no use of them; TSMC stealing from chip designers would be like a printing press stealing plots from novelists. 2023 March 21, Virginia Heffernan, “I Saw the Face of God in a Semiconductor Factory”, in WIRED:

Forms

Deriveds

type foundry · foundrywoman · foundryman

Synonyms

fab (semiconductor fabrication plant)

Translations (46)

hi ढलाईख़ाना (facility that melts metals) · fr fonderie (facility that melts metals) · tl pabubuan (facility that melts metals) · gl forna (facility that melts metals) · sv gjuteri (facility that melts metals) · mk леарница (facility that melts metals) · pdt Jeetarie (facility that melts metals) · es factoría (facility that melts metals) · ru лите́йный цех (facility that melts metals) · tr dökümevi (facility that melts metals) · es herrería (facility that melts metals) · ja 鋳造所 (facility that melts metals) · es ferrería (facility that melts metals) · es forja (facility that melts metals) · cmn 鑄造廠 /铸造厂 (facility that melts metals) · gv mwyllin yiarn (facility that melts metals) · sh ljevaónica (facility that melts metals) · hu öntöde (facility that melts metals) · oc fondariá (facility that melts metals) · tr dökümhane (facility that melts metals) · it fonderia (facility that melts metals) · pl odlewnia (facility that melts metals) · bg леярна (facility that melts metals) · az tökməxana (facility that melts metals) · da støberi (facility that melts metals) · el χυτήριο (facility that melts metals) · et valukoda (facility that melts metals) · pt fundição (facility that melts metals) · es fundición (facility that melts metals) · hi ढलाईघर (facility that melts metals) · hu vasöntöde (facility that melts metals) · pl gisernia (facility that melts metals) · gl fundizón (facility that melts metals) · cs slévárna (facility that melts metals) · ca foneria (facility that melts metals) · ro turnătorie (facility that melts metals) · uk плави́льня (facility that melts metals) · uk лива́рня (facility that melts metals) · hy ձուլարան (facility that melts metals) · nb støperi (facility that melts metals) · ru лите́йная (facility that melts metals) · es fundería (facility that melts metals) · ru лите́йный заво́д (facility that melts metals) · fi valimo (facility that melts metals) · nl gieterij (facility that melts metals) · de Gießerei (facility that melts metals)