framework

Noun

framework (plural frameworks)

1. (literally) A support structure comprising joined parts or conglomerated particles and intervening open spaces of similar or larger size.
2. (literally) The arrangement of support beams that represent a building's general shape and size.

   Synonyms:

   ossature

3. (figuratively) The larger branches of a tree that determine its shape.
4. (figuratively) A basic conceptual structure.
   • These ‘three principles of connexion’ compose the framework of principles in Hume's account of the association of ideas.
   • He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and...2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 13 Feb 2012, page 162
5. A reusable piece of code (and, sometimes, other utilities) providing a standard environment within which an application can be implemented.
6. An established and structured system of rules and principles used for analyzing and describing the structure of a language.