English

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Etymology

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From Middle English conformen, borrowed from Old French conformer, from Latin conformāre (to mould, to shape after).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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conform (third-person singular simple present conforms, present participle conforming, simple past and past participle conformed)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To adapt to something by more closely matching it, especially something normative.
    • c. 1710, “Vanbrugh's House”, in The Poems of Jonathan Swift, 1910 edition, Jonathan Swift:
      There is a worm by Phoebus bred,
      By leaves of mulberry is fed,
      Which unprovided where to dwell,
      Conforms itself to weave a cell.
    • 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, chapter 6, in Nature:
      The sensual man conforms thoughts to things; the poet conforms things to his thoughts.
    • 1961 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Salute to the "Claud Hamiltons" & "Directors"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 115:
      When Nos. 1870 to 1879 emerged, in 1902, the circular front windows of the cab had given place to much larger windows, conforming to the shape of the cab roof on top and the firebox top below, [...].
    1. (transitive, intransitive, often followed by to) To change to more closely match typical characteristics or behavior.
  2. (intransitive, of things or procedures) To be as required or recommended by a specification, regulation, or policy.
    • 1919, Hildegard G. Frey, chapter 11, in The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit:
      In height and breadth it conformed to the prescribed measurements laid down by the rules of the contest.
    • 2006 December 22, “Judge Cuts Amount of Vioxx Award”, in New York Times, retrieved 7 June 2011:
      A judge in a Texas widow’s lawsuit over the Merck drug Vioxx reduced a $32 million jury award to about $7.75 million on Thursday so that it conformed to state law.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From French conforme.

Pronunciation

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Preposition

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conform

  1. (somewhat formal) in accordance with, according to

Derived terms

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French conforme.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /konˈform/
  • Rhymes: -orm
  • Hyphenation: con‧form

Preposition

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conform (+dative)

  1. according to
    Synonym: potrivit
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Further reading

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