core vs foundation

core

noun
  • The most important part of a thing or aggregate of things wherever located and whether of any determinate location at all; the essence. 

  • A piece of ferromagnetic material (e.g., soft iron), inside the windings of an electromagnet, that channels the magnetic field. 

  • The bony process which forms the central axis of the horns in many animals. 

  • The set of feasible allocations that cannot be improved upon by a subset (a coalition) of the economy's agents. 

  • A tiny sample of organic material obtained by means of a fine-needle biopsy. 

  • An atomic nucleus plus inner electrons (i.e., an atom, except for its valence electrons). 

  • A deposit paid by the purchaser of a rebuilt part, to be refunded on return of a used, rebuildable part, or the returned rebuildable part itself. 

  • A disorder of sheep caused by worms in the liver. 

  • The portion of a mold that creates an internal cavity within a casting or that makes a hole in or through a casting. 

  • Used to designate the main and most diverse monophyletic group within a clade or taxonomic group. 

  • The anatomical core, muscles which bridge abdomen and thorax. 

  • An individual computer processor, in the sense when several processors (called cores or CPU cores) are plugged together in one single integrated circuit to work as one (called a multi-core processor). 

  • The central part of a protein's structure, consisting mostly of hydrophobic amino acids. 

  • A cylindrical sample of rock or other materials obtained by core drilling. 

  • The heart or inner part of a physical thing. 

  • The central fissile portion of a fission weapon. 

  • A hollow cylindrical piece of cardboard around which a web of paper or plastic is wound. 

  • The center or inner part of a space or area. 

  • The central part of a fruit, containing the kernels or seeds. 

  • The inner part of a nuclear reactor, in which the nuclear reaction takes place. 

  • A miner's underground working time or shift. 

  • The material between surface materials in a structured composite sandwich material. 

verb
  • To cut or drill through the core of (something). 

  • To remove the core of an apple or other fruit. 

  • To extract a sample with a drill. 

adj
  • Forming the most important or essential part. 

foundation

noun
  • That upon which anything is founded; that on which anything stands, and by which it is supported; the lowest and supporting layer of a superstructure; underbuilding. 

  • The result of the work to begin something; that which stabilizes and allows an enterprise or system to develop. 

  • The lowest and supporting part or member of a wall, including the base course and footing courses; in a frame house, the whole substructure of masonry. 

  • A donation or legacy appropriated to support a charitable institution, and constituting a permanent fund; endowment. 

  • A basis for social bodies or intellectual disciplines. 

  • The act of founding, fixing, establishing, or beginning to erect. 

  • That which is founded, or established by endowment; an endowed institution or charity. 

  • Cosmetic cream roughly skin-colored, designed to make the face appear uniform in color and texture. 

  • In solitaire or patience games, one of the piles of cards that the player attempts to build, usually holding all cards of a suit in ascending order. 

How often have the words core and foundation occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )