found [ME] The word found ‘establish’ goes back to Latin fundare ‘to lay a base for’, from fundus ‘bottom, base’, source also of foundation [LME], founder [ME] ‘sink’, and fund [E17th] from a secondary sense of fundus ‘landed property’; and profound [ME] ‘deep’. Found [E16th] ‘melt and mould’ is from French fondre (source of the melted cheese fondue [M19th]), from Latin fundere ‘melt, pour’, found also in to fuse [L16th].