form

form [fôrm]

n.

[ME forme < OFr < L forma, a shape, figure, image < ? (via Etr) Gr morphē]

1. the shape, outline, or configuration of anything; structure as apart from color, material, etc.

2.

a) the body or figure of a person or animal

b) a model of the human figure, esp. one used to display or fit clothes

3. anything used to give shape to something else; mold; specif., a temporary structure of boards or metal into which concrete is poured to set

4. the particular mode of existence a thing has or takes [water in the form of vapor]

5.

a) arrangement; esp., orderly arrangement; way in which parts of a whole are organized; pattern; style: distinguished from CONTENT²

b) a specific arrangement, esp. a conventional one

6. a way of doing something requiring skill; specif., the style or technique of an athlete, esp. when it is the standard or approved one

7. a customary or conventional way of acting or behaving; ceremony; ritual; formality

8. a fixed order of words; formula [the form of a wedding announcement]

9. a printed document with blank spaces to be filled in [an application form]

10. a particular kind, type, species, or variety [man is a form of animal life]

11. physical or mental condition with respect to one's performance or effectiveness [in good form for the game]

12.

a) RACING FORM

b) what is or was to be expected, based on past performances [to react according to form]

13. the lair or hiding place of a hare, etc.

14. a long, wooden bench without a back, as formerly in a schoolroom

15. a grade or class in some private schools and in British secondary schools

16. Archaic beauty

17. Gram. any of the different variations in which a word may appear due to changes of inflection, spelling, or pronunciation [“am” is a form of the verb “be”]

18. Linguis. LINGUISTIC FORM

19. Philos. the ideal nature or essential character of a thing as distinguished from its material manifestation; specif., in Plato, an IDEA (sense 7)

20. Printing the type, engravings, etc. locked in a frame, or chase, for printing or plating

vt.

[ME formen < OFr fourmer < L formare < the n.]

1. to give shape or form to; fashion; make, as in some particular way

2. to mold or shape by training and discipline; train; instruct

3. to develop (habits)

4. to think of; frame in the mind; conceive

5. to come together into; organize into [to form a club]

6. to make up; act as; create out of separate elements; constitute [thirteen states formed the original Union]

7. Gram.

a) to build (words) from bases, affixes, etc.

b) to construct or make up (a phrase, sentence, etc.)

vi.

1. to be formed; assume shape

2. to come into being; take form

3. to take a definite or specific form or shape

SYN.- MAKE¹

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good form or bad form

conduct in (or not in) accord with social custom

SYN.- FORM denotes the arrangement of the parts of a thing that gives it its distinctive appearance and is the broadest term here, applying also to abstract concepts; FIGURE is applied to physical form as determined by the bounding lines or surfaces; OUTLINE is used of the lines bounding the limits of an object and, in an extended sense, suggests a general plan without detail; SHAPE, although also stressing outline, is usually applied to something that has mass or bulk and may refer to nonphysical concepts; CONFIGURATION stresses the relative disposition of the inequalities of a surface