form

See also Form

English

Wikipedia has articles on:

Wikipedia Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), from Old French forme, from Latin forma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”)

Pronunciation

Noun

form (plural forms)

  1. The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
    • 2013 May 10, Audrey Garric, “Urban canopies let nature bloom”, The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 22, page 30: 
      As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field.
  2. A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.
  3. An order of doing things, as in religious ritual.
  4. A blank document or template to be filled in by the user.
    To apply for the position, complete the application form.
  5. (grammar) A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages.
  6. Characteristics not involving atomic components.
  7. (UK) A criminal record; loosely, past history (in a given area).
    • 2011, Jane Martinson, The Guardian, 4 May 2011:
      It's fair to say she has form on this: she has criticised David Cameron's proposal to create all-women shortlists for prospective MPs, tried to ban women wearing high heels at work as the resulting pain made them take time off work, and tried to reduce the point at which an abortion can take place from 24 to 21 weeks.
  8. (UK, education) A class or year of students (often preceded by an ordinal number to specify the year, as in sixth form).
    • 1928, George Bickerstaff, The mayor, and other folk
      One other day after afternoon school, Mr. Percival came behind me and put his hand on me. " Let me see, what's your name ? Which form are you in ?...
    • 1976, Ronald King, School and college: studies of post-sixteen education
      From the sixth form will come the scholars and the administrators.
  9. The den or home of a hare.
    • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.29:
      Being one day a hunting, I found a Hare sitting in her forme [...].
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, I.iii.1.2:
      The Egyptians therefore in their hieroglyphics expressed a melancholy man by a hare sitting in her form, as being a most timorous and solitary creature.
    • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p. 275:
      Hares left their snug ‘forms’ in the cold grass.
  10. (dated) A long bench with no back.
    • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, p. 10:
      I can see the old schoolroom yet: the broken-down desks and the worn-out forms with knots in that got stuck into your backside [...].
    • 2010, Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles:
      The prefect grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me down a passageway, and down another and finally through a door that led into a long, low dining-room crowded with loudly breakfasting boys sitting on long, shiny oak forms, as benches used to be called.
  11. (computing, programming) A window or dialogue box.
    • 1998, Gary Cornell, Visual Basic 6 from the ground up (page 426)
      While it is quite amazing how much one can do with Visual Basic with the code attached to a single form...
    • Neil Smyth, C# Essentials
      Throughout this chapter we will work with a form in a new project.
  12. (UK) Grade (level of pre-collegiate education).
  13. (biology) An infraspecific rank.

Synonyms

  • (shape):
    • figure, used when discussing people, not animals
    • shape, used on animals and on persons
  • (blank document): formular
  • (pre-collegiate level): grade
  • (biology): f.

Related terms

Derived terms

Translations

shape or visible structure
document to be filled
level of pre-collegiate education — see grade

Verb

form (third-person singular simple present forms, present participle forming, simple past and past participle formed)

  1. (transitive) To give shape or visible structure to (a thing or person).
  2. (intransitive) To take shape.
  3. (transitive, linguistics) To create (a word) by inflection or derivation.
    By adding "-ness", you can form a noun from an adjective.
  4. (transitive) To constitute, to compose, to make up.
    • 1948 May, Stanley Pashko, “The Biggest Family”, in Boys' Life, Volume 38, Number 5, Boy Scouts of America, ISSN 0006-8608, page 10:
      Insects form the biggest family group in nature's kingdom, and also the oldest.

Related terms

Translations

to give shape
(intransitive) to take shape
(linguistics) to create a word
to constitute, to compose

Statistics

External links

Anagrams

↑Jump back a section

Danish

Etymology

From Latin fōrma (“shape, form”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fɔrm/, [fɒːˀm]

Noun

form c (singular definite formen, plural indefinite former)

  1. form
  2. shape

Inflection

    Inflection of form
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative form formen former formerne
genitive forms formens formers formernes

Noun

form c (singular definite formen, plural indefinite forme)

  1. mould
  2. tin (a metal pan used for baking, roasting, etc.)

Inflection

    Inflection of form
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative form formen forme formene
genitive forms formens formes formenes

External links

↑Jump back a section

German

Verb

form

  1. Imperative singular of formen.
  2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of formen.
↑Jump back a section

Swedish

240 knäckformar

Pronunciation

Noun

form c

  1. a form, a shape
  2. a form, a mold, a dish, a tray, a tin, a piece of ovenware

Declension

Declension of form (shape)
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative form formen former formerna
genitive forms formens formers formernas
Declension of form (mold, ovenware)
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative form formen formar formarna
genitive forms formens formars formarnas

Related terms

shape
  • cirkelform
  • ellipsform
  • forma
mold
  • formfranska
  • formgjuta
  • gjutform
  • kakform
  • knäckform
  • pajform
↑Jump back a section
Last modified on 20 May 2013, at 16:13