fund

n. [ OF. font, fond, nom. fonz, bottom, ground, F. fond bottom, foundation, fonds fund, fr. L. fundus bottom, ground, foundation, piece of land. See Found to establish. ] 1. An aggregation or deposit of resources from which supplies are or may be drawn for carrying on any work, or for maintaining existence. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stock or capital; a sum of money appropriated as the foundation of some commercial or other operation undertaken with a view to profit; that reserve by means of which expenses and credit are supported; as, the fund of a bank, commercial house, manufacturing corporation, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. The stock of a national debt; public securities; evidences (stocks or bonds) of money lent to government, for which interest is paid at prescribed intervals; -- called also public funds. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An invested sum, whose income is devoted to a specific object; as, the fund of an ecclesiastical society; a fund for the maintenance of lectures or poor students; also, money systematically collected to meet the expenses of some permanent object. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A store laid up, from which one may draw at pleasure; a supply; a full provision of resources; as, a fund of wisdom or good sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

An inexhaustible fund of stories. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sinking fund, the aggregate of sums of money set apart and invested, usually at fixed intervals, for the extinguishment of the debt of a government, or of a corporation, by the accumulation of interest. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being funded, or converted into a fund; convertible into bonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. fundament, fundement, fondement, OF. fundement, fondement, F. fondement, fr. L. fundamentum foundation, fr. fundare to lay the bottom, to found, fr. fundus bottom. See Fund. ] 1. Foundation. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The part of the body on which one sits; the buttocks; specifically (Anat.), the anus. Hume. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part, as, the fundamentals of the Christian faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. fondamental. ] Pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the foundation. Hence: Essential, as an element, principle, or law; important; original; elementary; as, a fundamental truth; a fundamental axiom. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fundamental reasons of this war. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some fundamental antithesis in nature. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fundamental bass (Mus.), the root note of a chord; a bass formed of the roots or fundamental tones of the chords. --
Fundamental chord (Mus.), a chord, the lowest tone of which is its root. --
Fundamental colors, red, green, and violet-blue. See Primary colors, under Color. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A system of beliefs based on the interpretation of every word in the Bible, both old and new testaments, as literal truth. It is primarily held by a branch of American Protestants. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. The beliefs or practises based on a rigid adherence to some traditional doctrine; extreme conservatism; as, Moslem fundamentalism; the political fundamentalism of the Christian right. [ PJC ]

n. a supporter of fundamentalism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to fundamentalists or fundamentalism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. characteristic of a fundamentalist; -- especially, resembling the behavior of a fundamentalist; as, a fundamentalist dislike of new ideas. [ PJC ]