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infrastructure
6 dictionary results for: Infrastructure
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
in·fra·struc·ture 
[in-fruh-struhk-cher] Pronunciation Key
[in-fruh-struhk-cher] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | the basic, underlying framework or features of a system or organization. |
| 2. | the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, as transportation and communication systems, power plants, and schools. |
| 3. | the military installations of a country. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| in·fra·struc·ture
(ĭn'frə-strŭk'chər) Pronunciation Key
n.
in'fra·struc'tur·al adj. Usage Note: The term infrastructure has been used since 1927 to refer collectively to the roads, bridges, rail lines, and similar public works that are required for an industrial economy, or a portion of it, to function. The term also has had specific application to the permanent military installations necessary for the defense of a country. Perhaps because of the word's technical sound, people now use infrastructure to refer to any substructure or underlying system. Big corporations are said to have their own financial infrastructure of smaller businesses, for example, and political organizations to have their infrastructure of groups, committees, and admirers. The latter sense may have originated during the Vietnam War in the use of the word by military intelligence officers, whose task it was to delineate the structure of the enemy's shadowy organizations. Today we may hear that conservatism has an infrastructure of think tanks and research foundations or that terrorist organizations have an infrastructure of people sympathetic to their cause. The Usage Panel finds this extended use referring to people to be problematic, however. Seventy percent of the Panelists find it unacceptable in the sentence FBI agents fanned out to monitor a small infrastructure of persons involved with established terrorist organizations. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
infrastructure
infrastructure
1927, from Fr. (1875), from infra- (q.v.) + structure. The installations that form the basis for any operation or system. Originally in a military sense.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| infrastructure | |
noun | |
| 1. | the basic structure or features of a system or organization |
| 2. | the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; "the industrial base of Japan" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Investopedia - Cite This Source - Share This
Infrastructure
The basic physical systems of a business or nation.
Investopedia Commentary
Transportation, communication, sewage, water, and electric systems are all a part of infrastructure. These systems tend to be high cost investments however, they are needed for a country to be efficient and productive.
See also: Economies of Scale, Investment, Project Finance
Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This
infrastructure
Basic support services for computing, particularly national networks.
See also information superhighway.
(1995-06-27)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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