infrastructure English · revision 5163

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1887|origins=fr infrastructure}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈɪn.frəˌstrʌk.tʃə/, US /ˈɪn.frəˌstrʌk.tʃɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|infrastructure]] (1875),^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) formed from [[infra-]] “below” and [[structure]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The installations that form the basis of an operation or system, originally in a military sense: 1887 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED and MWU date it to 1927.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its general sense is the underlying parts of a structure.^(OED 1989) It came to mean the roads, power supplies, buildings and services a society needs.^(COED 2004)^(AHD) In economics it is the stock of fixed capital equipment of a country, seen as a factor in growth.^(Collins 2023) ''Infrastructural'' is from 1963.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1875 – French infrastructure.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1887 – in English, military.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1927 – in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1963 – ''infrastructural''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The basic systems and services a country or community needs, such as [[transport]], water and power.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # The basic structure of an organization or system.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[infrastructural]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[infra-]]

+ * [[structure]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}