form
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- forme (rare or archaic)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), borrowed from Old French forme, from Latin fōrma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”)
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɔːm/
- (General American) IPA(key): /fɔɹm/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: form
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)m
NounEdit
form (countable and uncountable, plural forms)
- (heading, physical) To do with shape.
- The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:
- The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. […] Roaring, leaping, pouncing, the tempest raged about the wanderers, drowning and blotting out their forms with sandy spume.
- 2013 May 10, Audrey Garric, “Urban canopies let nature bloom”, in 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.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.
- Regularity, beauty, or elegance.
- (philosophy) The inherent nature of an object; that which the mind itself contributes as the condition of knowing; that in which the essence of a thing consists.
- Characteristics not involving atomic components. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (dated) A long bench with no back.
- 1585–1586 January 18, “LXIII. Testamentum Johannis Ogle. [63. Will of John Ogle.]”, in [William Greenwell], editor, Wills and Inventories from the Registry at Durham. Part II (The Publications of the Surtees Society; XXXVIII), Durham: Published for the Society by George Andrews, Durham; London: Whittaker and Co., 13 Ave Maria Lane; T. and W. Boone, 29 New Bond Street; Edinburgh: Blackwood and Sons, published 1860, OCLC 931289584, page 132:
- 1981, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, page 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: An Autobiography:
- 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.
- (fine arts) The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.
- (crystallography) The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.
- The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
- (social) To do with structure or procedure.
- An order of doing things, as in religious ritual.
- Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula.
- 1697, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- Those whom form of laws
Condemned to die.
- Those whom form of laws
- Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system.
- a republican form of government
- Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality.
- a matter of mere form
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene vii]:
- Though well we may not pass upon his life
Without the form of justice.
- (archaic) A class or rank in society.
- 1724, [Gilbert] Burnet, [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] Thomas Ward […], OCLC 863504080:
- ladies of a high form
- (Britain) A criminal record; loosely, past history (in a given area).
- 2011, Jane Martinson, The Guardian, 4 May:
- 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.
- 2011, Jane Martinson, The Guardian, 4 May:
- (Britain, education) A class or year of school pupils (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.
- 1928, George Bickerstaff, The mayor, and other folk
- A blank document or template to be filled in by the user.
- To apply for the position, complete the application form.
- A specimen document to be copied or imitated.
- Level of performance.
- The team's form has been poor this year.
- The orchestra was on top form this evening.
- (grammar) A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages; the particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech.
- participial forms; verb forms
- The den or home of a hare.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 29, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- Being one day a hunting, I found a Hare sitting in her forme […].
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970:, 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.
- (computing, programming) A window or dialogue box.
- 1998, Gary Cornell, Visual Basic 6 from the ground up (p.426)
- While it is quite amazing how much one can do with Visual Basic with the code attached to a single form, to take full advantage of VB you'll need to start using multiple forms and having the code on all the forms in your project interact.
- 2010, Neil Smyth, C# Essentials
- Throughout this chapter we will work with a form in a new project.
- 1998, Gary Cornell, Visual Basic 6 from the ground up (p.426)
- (taxonomy) An infraspecific rank.
- (printing, dated) The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.
- (geometry) A quantic.
- (sports, fitness) A specific way of performing a movement.
SynonymsEdit
- (visible structure of a thing or person): shape; see also Thesaurus:shape
- (visible structure of a person): figure; see also Thesaurus:physique
- (thing that gives shape to other things): cast, cookie cutter, mold, pattern
- (mode of construction): configuration, makeup; see also Thesaurus:composition
- (blank document): formular
- (pre-collegiate level): grade
- (biology): f.
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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VerbEdit
form (third-person singular simple present forms, present participle forming, simple past and past participle formed)
- (transitive) To assume (a certain shape or visible structure).
- When you kids form a straight line I'll hand out the lollies.
- 2013 May–June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:
- Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
- (transitive) To give (a shape or visible structure) to a thing or person.
- Roll out the dough to form a thin sheet.
- (intransitive) To take shape.
- When icicles start to form on the eaves you know the roads will be icy.
- 2013 July–August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
- As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.
- To put together or bring into being; assemble.
- The socialists did not have enough MPs to form a government.
- Paul McCartney and John Lennon formed The Beatles in Liverpool in 1960.
- (transitive, linguistics) To create (a word) by inflection or derivation.
- By adding "-ness", you can form a noun from an adjective.
- (transitive) To constitute, to compose, to make up.
- Teenagers form the bulk of extreme traffic offenders.
- 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace
- the diplomatic politicians […] who formed by far the majority
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175:
- But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, […].
- 1948 May, Stanley Pashko, “The Biggest Family”, in Boys' Life, Volume 38, Number 5, Boy Scouts of America, ISSN 0006-8608, p.10:
- Insects form the biggest family group in nature's kingdom, and also the oldest.
- To mould or model by instruction or discipline.
- Singing in a choir helps to form a child's sociality.
- 1731–1735, Alexander Pope, Moral Essays
- 'Tis education forms the common mind.
- 1697, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- Thus formed for speed, he challenges the wind.
- To provide (a hare) with a form.
- 1612, Michael Drayton, chapter 2, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes; I. Browne; I. Helme; I. Busbie, published 1613, OCLC 1049089293:
- The melancholy hare is formed in brakes and briers.
- 1819, John Mayer, The Sportsman's Directory, or Park and Gamekeeper's Companion:
- This is the time that the horseman are flung out, not having the cry to lead them to the death. When quadruped animals of the venery or hunting kind are at rest, the stag is said to be harboured, the buck lodged, the fox kennelled, the badger earthed, the otter vented or watched, the hare formed, and the rabbit set. When you find and rouse up the stag and buck, they are said to be imprimed: […]
- (electrical, historical, transitive) To treat (plates) to prepare them for introduction into a storage battery, causing one plate to be composed more or less of spongy lead, and the other of lead peroxide. This was formerly done by repeated slow alternations of the charging current, but later the plates or grids were coated or filled, one with a paste of red lead and the other with litharge, introduced into the cell, and formed by a direct charging current.
SynonymsEdit
- (give shape): beshape, transmogrify; see also Thesaurus:form
- (take shape): take form, take shape; see also Thesaurus:come into being
- (constitute): compose, make up; see also Thesaurus:compose
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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Further readingEdit
- form in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- form in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
AnagramsEdit
DanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin fōrma (“shape, form”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
form c (singular definite formen, plural indefinite former)
DeclensionEdit
NounEdit
form c (singular definite formen, plural indefinite forme)
DeclensionEdit
Further readingEdit
- “form” in Den Danske Ordbog
- form on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia da
GermanEdit
VerbEdit
form
Norwegian BokmålEdit
Etymology 1Edit
NounEdit
form f or m (definite singular forma or formen, indefinite plural former, definite plural formene)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
form
- imperative of forme
ReferencesEdit
- “form” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian NynorskEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
form f (definite singular forma, indefinite plural former, definite plural formene)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “form” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
SwedishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Swedish forma, borrowed from Latin forma.
PronunciationEdit
audio (file)
NounEdit
form c
DeclensionEdit
Declension of form | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | form | formen | former | formerna |
Genitive | forms | formens | formers | formernas |
Declension of form (mold, ovenware) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | form | formen | formar | formarna |
Genitive | forms | formens | formars | formarnas |
Related termsEdit
- shape
- mold
AnagramsEdit
TurkishEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
form (definite accusative formu, plural formlar)
DeclensionEdit
Inflection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nominative | form | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Definite accusative | formu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nominative | form | formlar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Definite accusative | formu | formları | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dative | forma | formlara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locative | formda | formlarda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ablative | formdan | formlardan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genitive | formun | formların | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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