framework

Plural: frameworks

Noun

• a hypothetical description of a complex entity or process
• the underlying structure
  • "providing a factual framework for future research"
• a structure supporting or containing something
• A support structure comprising joined parts or conglomerated particles and intervening open spaces of similar or larger size.
• The arrangement of support beams that represent a building's general shape and size.
• The larger branches of a tree that determine its shape.
• A basic conceptual structure.
• A reusable piece of code (and, sometimes, other utilities) providing a standard environment within which an application can be implemented.
• An established and structured system of rules and principles used for analyzing and describing the structure of a language.

Examples

• These ‘three principles of connexion’ compose the framework of principles in Hume's account of the association of ideas.

Synonyms

fabric, model, theoretical account