bedrock

Etymology

bed + rock

noun

1. (uncountable, geology, mining, engineering, construction) The solid rock that exists at some depth below the ground surface. Bedrock is rock "in place", as opposed to material that has been transported from another location by weathering and erosion.
2. (figurative) A basis or foundation.
   If culture is the bedrock of a society, then language is the cornerstone of culture.
   Many of the bedrock assumptions of American culture — about work, progress, fairness and optimism — are being shaken as successive generations worry about the prospect of declining living standards. October 23, 2012, David Leonhardt, “Standard of Living Is in the Shadows as Election Issue”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-10-24
   The research on the Like button was an example of how Facebook has questioned the bedrock features of social networking. 2021-10-25, Mike Isaac, “Facebook Wrestles With the Features It Used to Define Social Networking”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Above all, rail needs to be boring. By that, I mean that it must run its timetable reliably, day-in and day-out. Punctuality and reliability remain the bedrock of a successful railway. April 5 2023, Philip Haigh, “Comment: Pay deal a positive result”, in RAIL, number 980, page 3

verb

1. (transitive, figurative) To establish on a solid foundation.
   Bedrocked in the formative race relations of the Heart of Dixie, the governor declined an invitation to the unveiling of artist Maya Lin's civil rights memorial in downtown Montgomery. 2011, Allen Tullos, Alabama Getaway: The Political Imaginary and the Heart of Dixie, page 128