groundwork

Etymology

ground + work

noun

1. The foundation; the basic or fundamental parts that support or allow for the rest.
   The discovery of the laws of electricity laid the groundwork for a century of innovation.
   This outline programme was compiled by a working party consisting of members from the Regional Planning Office, the civil, mechanical and electrical, and signal engineering departments and the traffic services, on the basis of much groundwork done within each of these departments. 1961 December, “Planning the London Midland main-line electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 720