'foundry' originates from Middle English and Anglo-French, specifically the words 'founderie'/'foundrie', ultimately derived from Old French 'fondre' and Latin 'fundere' where 'fundere' meant 'to pour'.

'foundry' changed from Middle English forms such as 'founderie' (influenced by Anglo-French) and earlier Old French 'fondre' (to melt/pour), and eventually became the modern English noun 'foundry' referring to a place where metal is cast.

Initially it referred to the act of pouring or melting (from Latin 'fundere'), and over time it came to mean the place where molten material is poured—i.e., a workshop for casting metal; by extension it later came to denote businesses that cast type or fabricate semiconductors.