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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

form.

To do with shape.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/fɔːm/Received-Pronunciation/fɔɹm/General-American[fo̞ɹm]General-American/fo(ː)ɹm/
  1. To do with shape. The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.

    countable · physical · uncountable
  2. To do with shape. A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.

    countable · physical · uncountable
  3. To do with shape. Regularity, beauty, or elegance.

    countable · physical · uncountable
  4. To do with shape. 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.

    countable · physical · uncountable
  5. To do with shape. Characteristics not involving atomic components.

    countable · physical · uncountable
  6. To do with shape. A long bench with no back.

    countable · dated · physical · uncountable
  7. To do with shape. The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.

    countable · physical · uncountable
  8. To do with shape. The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.

    countable · physical · uncountable
  9. To do with structure or procedure. An order of doing things, as in religious ritual.

    countable · uncountable
  10. To do with structure or procedure. Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula.

    countable · uncountable
  11. To do with structure or procedure. Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system.

    countable · uncountable
    a republican form of government
  12. To do with structure or procedure. Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality.

    countable · uncountable
    a matter of mere form
  13. To do with structure or procedure. A class or rank in society.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  14. To do with structure or procedure. Past history (in a given area); a habit of doing something.

    UK · countable · uncountable
  15. To do with structure or procedure. Level of performance.

    countable · uncountable
  16. To do with structure or procedure. A class or year of school pupils.

    UK · countable · uncountable
  17. To do with structure or procedure. A numbered division grouping school students (usually every two years) in education between Years 1 and 13 (often preceded by an ordinal number to specify the form, as in sixth form).

    UK · countable · dated · uncountable
  18. A blank document or template to be filled in by the user.

    countable · uncountable
    To apply for the position, complete the application form.
  19. A specimen document to be copied or imitated.

    countable · uncountable
  20. A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages; the particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech.

    countable · uncountable
    participial forms;  verb forms
  21. The den or home of a hare.

    countable · uncountable
  22. A window or dialogue box.

    countable · uncountable
  23. An infraspecific rank.

    countable · uncountable
  24. The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.

    countable · historical · uncountable
  25. A quantic.

    countable · uncountable
  26. A specific way of performing a movement.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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.”). In sense "division grouping school students" (now dated), derived from public school nomenclature later adopted by state schools. It is sometimes said to be from the sense of "bench", where students of certain ages would sit together, though this is disputed, or alternatively from the sense of "established method of expression or practice".

verb/fɔːm/Received-Pronunciation/fɔɹm/General-American[fo̞ɹm]General-American/fo(ː)ɹm/
  1. To assume (a certain shape or visible structure).

    transitive
    When you kids form a straight line I'll hand out the lollies.
  2. To give (a shape or visible structure) to a thing or person.

    transitive
    Roll out the dough to form a thin sheet.
  3. To take shape.

    intransitive
    When icicles start to form on the eaves you know the roads will be icy.
  4. 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.
  5. To create (a word) by inflection or derivation.

    transitive
    By adding "-ness", you can form a noun from an adjective.
  6. To constitute, to compose, to make up.

    transitive
    Teenagers form the bulk of extreme traffic offenders.
  7. To mould or model by instruction or discipline.

    Singing in a choir helps to form a child's sociality.
  8. To provide (a hare) with a form.

  9. 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.

    historical · transitive
Where this word comes from

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.”). In sense "division grouping school students" (now dated), derived from public school nomenclature later adopted by state schools. It is sometimes said to be from the sense of "bench", where students of certain ages would sit together, though this is disputed, or alternatively from the sense of "established method of expression or practice".

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.