▪ I. form, n.
(fɔːm)
Forms: 3–7 forme, 4– form; also 3–4 furme, 3–7 fourme, 5 foorme; fourm.
[a. OF. fo(u)rme, furme, ad. L. forma, primarily shape, configuration; the derived senses below were for the most part developed in class. or post-class. Lat.
Some philologists refer the word to the root of ferīre to strike; others compare it with Skr. dharman neut., holding, position, order, f. dhar, dhṛ, to hold. The word has been adopted, and is in familiar use, in all the Rom. and mod. Teut. langs.: Pr., Sp., Pg., It. forma (Sp. Mech. also horma), Ger., Sw., Da. form, Du. vorm.
Todd 1818 assigns to the word in senses 6 b, 17, 21 the pronunciation (fɔəm), in other senses (fɔːm). The distinction, if it was ever recognized, is now obsolete.]
I. Shape, arrangement of parts.
1. a. The visible aspect of a thing; now usually in narrower sense, shape, configuration, as distinguished from colour; occasionally, the shape or figure of the body as distinguished from the face.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3326 Þat ychanged hii were Hii þre in þe oþeres fourme. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 311 After the eiȝte and twenti dayes, forme hit [the seed] gynneth to nyme. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 92 An angel bi wai he mette, In mannes fourm. c 1400 Rom. Rose 2810 Hir shappe, hir fourme, hir goodly chere. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 127 Þis schal be þe foorme of a trepane. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 99 The whyte asp differeth..from the blak..in the form of the lefe. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. viii. 7 b, A great building made in forme of a Citadelle. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 587 The slipp'ry God will..various Forms assume, to cheat thy sight. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 82 ¶2 Stones of remarkable forms. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 257 Her face was expressive: her form wanted no feminine charm. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 571 The world was made in the form of a globe. |
b. pl. The shape of the different parts of a body. [So
Fr. les formes du corps.]
| 1837 Lane Mod. Egypt. I. 50 In the Egyptian females the forms of womanhood begin to develop themselves about the ninth or tenth year. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 211 The buildings of the city..presenting forms dear to the antiquary. |
c. spec. in
Crystallogr. (See
quots.)
| 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 38 This group of faces, which are required to co-exist with a given face by the law of symmetry of the system is called a crystallographic form. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 60 A set of faces symmetrically related, such as the six faces of the prism of rock-crystal, is called technically a form. |
d. Abstractly considered as one of the elements of the plastic arts.
| 1851 Ruskin Mod. Paint. II. iii. ii. iv. §9 Form we find abstractedly considered by the sculptor. 1879 O. N. Rood Chromatics xviii. 314 In painting..colour is subordinate to form. |
† e. Beauty, comeliness. [so L.
forma.]
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif Wisd. viii. 2 And loouere I am mad of the foorme of it [wisdom]. 1568 T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 19 Forme is most frayle, a fading flattering showe. 1611 Bible Isa. liii. 2 Hee hath no forme nor comelinesse. 1632 Randolph Jealous Lovers ii. vii, You punish'd The queen of beauty with a mole; but certainly Her perjury hath added to her form. |
† f. Style of dress, costume.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1664 Pepys Diary 15 July, There comes out of the chayre⁓roome Mrs. Stewart, in a most lovely form..A lovely creature she in this dress seemed to be. |
† 2. An image, representation, or likeness (of a body). Also
fig. Obs.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 138 Ure deorewurðe goste, Godes owune furme. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 25/43 Ane Croyz of seluer with þe fourme of god huy leten a-rere. 1340 Ayenb. 87 Oure riȝte uader..þet..ssop þe zaule to his anlycnisse an to his fourme. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 32 In þe whilk roche es þe prynte and þe fourme of his body. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. ix, That thou no forme of thee hast left behind. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry i. vii. (1611) 29 An escocheon is the forme or representation of a shield. |
3. A body considered in respect to its outward shape and appearance;
esp. that of a living being, a person.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4218 King Arthure..Toward þis grisliche fourme mid god herte him drou. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1768 Lucretia, Right so, thogh that her forme wer absent, The plesaunce of hir forme was present. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 27 Þat þei moun bynde manye þingis in oon foorme, as þe panicle of þe heed byndiþ sevene boones. 1639 Massinger Unnat. Combat v. ii, Are your aerial forms deprived of language? 1697 Dryden æneid vi. 389 Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep, Forms terrible to view, their Centry keep. 1817 Coleridge Lewti 2 To forget the form I loved. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 77 To his surprise, this very form stood before him. |
4. Philos. a. In the Scholastic philosophy: The essential determinant principle of a thing; that which makes anything (
matter) a determinate species or kind of being; the essential creative quality.
This use of
form (Aristotle's µορϕή or εἶδος) and
matter (ὕλη) is a metaphorical extension of their popular use. In ordinary speech, a portion of matter, stuff, or material, becomes a ‘thing’ by virtue of having a particular ‘form’ or shape; by altering the form, the matter remaining unchanged, we make a new ‘thing’. This language, primarily applied only to objects of sense, was in philosophical use extended to objects of thought: every ‘thing’ or entity was viewed as consisting of two elements, its form by virtue of which it was different from, and its matter which it had in common with, others.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2228 Philomene, Thou yiver of the formes that hast wrought The faire world. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxv. 71 The body was only mater, to whiche thou [the soul] were the fourme, of whome now is he naked another fourme accidentale..maye he wel haue, but forme substancial is hit nought that he hath. 1570 Dee Math. Pref. *j, To behold in the Glas of Creation, the Forme of Formes. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. iii. §4 note, Form in other creatures is a thing proportionable unto the soul in living creatures..According to the diversity of inward forms, things of the world are distinguished into their kinds. 1605 P. Woodhouse Flea (1877) 10 Reason's the forme of man, he who wants this, May well be like a man, but no man is. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §33, I beleeve..that they [spirits] know things by their formes, and define by specificall difference what we describe by accidents and properties. 1645 Milton Tetrach. (1851) 169 The Form by which the thing is what it is. 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xxii. 137 That the Soul cannot be separated from the Body, because 'tis it's Form. 1676 Bates Exist. God iv. 66 Supposing the self subsistence of Matter..could the World, full of innumerable Forms, spring by an Impetus from a dead, formless Principle? 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. vi. §10 That the several Species of Substances had their distinct internal substantial Forms. |
b. So in
Theol., a sacrament is said to consist of
matter (as the water in baptism, the bread and wine in the Eucharist) and
form, which is furnished by certain essential formulary words.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lviii. §2 To make complete the outward substance of a sacrament, there is required an outward form, which form sacramental elements receive from sacramental words. a 1600 Ibid. vi. iv. §3 Forasmuch as a sacrament is complete, having the matter and form which it ought. 1727–41 in Chambers Cycl. |
c. In Bacon's modification of the Scholastic use: The real or objective conditions on which a sensible quality or body depends for its existence, and the knowledge of which enables it to be freely produced.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. vii. §5 To inquire the form of a lion, of an oak, of gold, nay, of water, of air, is a vain pursuit: but to inquire the forms of sense..of colours..of density, of tenuity, of heat, of cold, and all other natures and qualities..to inquire, I say, the true forms of these, is that part of metaphysic which we now define of. |
d. In the usage of Kant and Kantians: That factor of knowledge which gives reality and objectivity to the thing known, and which Kant regards as due to mind, or as (in his sense) subjective; the formative principle which holds together the several elements of a thing.
| 1803 Edin. Rev. I. 258 The subjective elements are by Kant denominated forms. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. iii §5 (1875) 49 If Space and Time are forms of thought, they can never be thought of. 1874 Sidgwick Meth. Ethics i. ix. 93 This notion of ‘ought’..is a necessary form of our moral apprehension. 1889 Caird Philos. Kant I. 279 The forms of unity by which it [the mind] determines sensible objects. Ibid. I. 349 The categories or forms of synthesis which belong to the pure understanding. |
5. a. The particular character, nature, structure, or constitution of a thing; the particular mode in which a thing exists or manifests itself. Phr.
in the form of,
to take the form of.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1591 (Gött.) For-þi in form of iugement A neu vengans on þaim he sent. c 1310 Poems Harl. MS. 2253 (Böddeker) 193 Iesu..graunte ous..þe vnderfonge in fourme of bred. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 81 Alwey stiryng til it..come into þe foorme of an oynement. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse Pref. A vj b, I have reduced it into the forme of a Dialoge. 1605 Camden Rem. 8 When they had..brought them into forme of a province. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 117 Iron is not, in the metallic form, produced by nature. 1850 McCosh Div. Govt. i. (1874) 53 Pantheism is the form in which infidelity prevails on the Continent of Europe in the present day. 1860–1 F. Nightingale Nursing 50 An egg, whipped up with wine, is often the only form in which they can take this kind of nourishment. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 399 The Dialogue necessarily takes the form of a narrative. |
b. One of the different modes in which a thing exists or manifests itself; a species, kind, or variety.
| 1542 Recorde Gr. Artes 116 b, This sorte is in two fourmes commenly. The one by lynes, and the other without lynes. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 76 To make your descant carrie some forme of relation to the plaine song. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xviii. 94 The Power in all formes [of Commonwealth], if they be perfect enough to protect them, is the same. 1733 Pope Ess. Man iii. 303 For Forms of Government let fools contest. 1821 J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 256 To this argument, in all its forms, the same answer may be given. 1843 C. H. Smith Naturalist's Library I. 291 The group is intermediate between the bisontine form and the bovine. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 157 They had refused to declare that any form of ecclesiastical polity was of divine origin. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §8 The sensation of wetness seems to be nothing else than a form of cold. |
c. Gram. (
a) One of the various modes of pronunciation, spelling, or inflexion under which a word may appear. (
b) In generalized sense: the external characteristics of words (
esp. with reference to their inflexions), as distinguished from their signification. Also in extended uses in
Linguistics.
Cf. linguistic form.
| 1861 Max Müller Lect. Sci. Lang. vii. 255 The Chinese sound ta means without any change of form, great, greatness, and to be great. 1889 F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) XLVIII. 267/3 In 1530, Palsgrave recorded the form topsy tyrvy. 1921 E. Sapir Lang. iv. 63 The evolution of forms like teeth and geese. 1926 Bloomfield in Language II. 155 The vocal features common to same or partly same utterances are forms. Ibid., Thus a form is a recurrent vocal feature which has meaning. 1933 ― Lang. 168 A form like John or run,..without, for instance, any specification as to final-pitch, is, properly speaking, not a real linguistic form, but only a lexical form; a linguistic form, as actually uttered, always contains a grammatical form. 1953 J. B. Carroll Study of Lang. ii. 49 The comparative linguist can attempt to trace back the forms of a given language to the forms of another, older language. Ibid., Historical linguists have prepared lists of ‘reconstructed’ forms. 1962 E. F. Haden et al. Resonance-Theory Linguistics ii. 15 Two language entities, between which there is a state of Resonance, may be found to be ‘sames’ as to their Form. 1966 J. M. Sinclair in C. E. Bazell In Memory of J. R. Firth 430 A form, in this article, is a stretch of language which has not yet been assigned a lexical status. |
d. Math. A homogeneous polynomial in two or more variables; a quantic.
| 1859 G. Salmon Less. Mod. Higher Alg. xii. 88 A quadratic form can be reduced in an infinity of ways to a sum of squares, yet the number of positive and negative squares in this sum is fixed. 1903 Grace & Young Alg. Invariants i. 4 The transformation of the binary form a0x12 + 2a1x1x2 + a2x22. 1928 H. W. Turnbull Theory of Determinants iii. 31 It is a linear homogeneous form in n arguments. Ibid. viii. 133 A homogeneous polynomial is a form or quantic. 1953 F. Blum tr. van der Waerden's Mod. Algebra (ed. 2) I. iii. 48 A polynomial is said to be homogeneous or to be a form if all of its terms are of the same degree. |
e. Librarianship. Used
attrib. in
form-catalogue,
form-class, etc., to denote a catalogue or catalogue entry in which books of a certain kind (poetry, almanacs, fiction, etc.) are listed together.
| 1876 C. A. Cutter Rules Dict. Catal., Contents, Form-catalogue. Ibid. 14 Form-entry, registry under the name of the kind of literature to which the book belongs. Ibid. 49 In the catalogues of libraries consisting chiefly of English books, if it is thought most convenient to make form-entries under the headings Poetry, Drama, Fiction, it may be done. Ibid., There is no reason but want of room why only collections should be entered under form-headings. Ibid., In the case of English fiction a form-list is of such constant use that nearly all libraries have separate fiction catalogues. 1913 J. H. Quinn Library Catal. 30 Form-Catalogue is one in which the entries are arranged according to the forms of literature and the languages in which the books are written, either alphabetically or according to the relations of the forms to one another. 1966 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 3) 105/2 Form Classes or divisions are used to contain those works which are required more for the way in which they are written or presented than their subject content. |
6. † a. gen. A grade or degree of rank, quality, excellence, or eminence; one of the classes forming a series arranged in order of merit, official dignity, proficiency in learning, etc.
Obs. [So late L.
forma prima,
secunda, etc., used of the various orders in the clergy, etc.]
| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas i. viii. (1544) 12 b, Minos..Made statutes..Of righteousnes they toke the fyrst fourme. 1579 E. K. Gen. Argt. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. §3 These..æclogues..may be..deuided into three formes or ranckes. c 1609 Beaumont Papers (1884) 21, I looke for no ordinarie cocke, hauyng of myne owne of that fourme more then I know what to doe withall. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. ii. §6 Certainly this kind of Learning deserves the highest form among the difficiles Nugæ. 1687 Burnet Reply to Varillas 123 He cannot bear my saying that such matters were above men of his form. 1700 Pepys Let. in Diary VI. 225 Thinking is working, though many forms beneath what my Lady and you are doing. 1702 Steele Funeral ii. (1704) 40 The Tongue is the Instrument of Speech to us of a lower Form. 1710 Acc. Last Distemp. Tom Whigg i. 22 The Doctor was a Physician of the first form. |
b. spec. One of the numbered classes into which the pupils of a school are divided according to their degree of proficiency.
In English Schools the sixth form is usually the highest; when a larger number of classes is required, the numbered ‘forms’ are divided into ‘upper’ and ‘lower’, etc. The word is usually explained as meaning originally ‘a number of scholars sitting on the same
form’ (sense 17); but there appears to be no ground for this.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 160 b, The maner of teaching the youth, and diuiding them into fourmes. 1655 Heywood Fort. by Land iii. Wks. 1874 VI. 399 We two were bred together, Schoole fellows, Both of one form and like degree in School. 1740 J. Clarke Educ. Youth (ed. 3) 110 The Master is obliged to divide his Time amongst Boys of different Forms. 1871 M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. I. i. 13 He was in the fifth form at Eton. |
| fig. 1774 Fletcher Ess. Truth Wks. 1795 IV. 124 If there are various forms in the School of Truth. |
† 7. A model, type, pattern, or example.
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif 1 Thess. i. 7 So that ȝe ben maad fourme, or ensaumple, to alle men bileuynge. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. vi. 19 Hys Lyf wes fowrme of all meknes, Merowr he wes of Rychtwysnes. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. iii. (1695) 230 To make abstract general Ideas, and set them up in the Mind, with Names annexed to them, as Patterns, or Forms, (for in that sence the word Form has a very proper signification). |
8. Due shape, proper figure; orderly arrangement of parts, regularity, good order; also, military formation.
| 1595 Shakes. John iii. iv. 101, I will not keepe this forme vpon my head, When there is such disorder in my witte! 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 20 In goodly form comes on the enemy. 1652 Evelyn Diary 22 Mar., His garden, which he was now desirous to put into some forme. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 531 'Gainst form and order they their power employ, Nothing to build, and all things to destroy. 1697 ― Virg. Georg. iv. 606 Where heaps of Billows..In Form of War, their wat'ry Ranks divide. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. x, They came dropping in..not..in form, but all in heaps. 1775 R. King in Life & Corr. (1894) I. 9 As soon as one Man was shot down in the front, another from the Rear immediately filled his place, and by that means [they] kept their Body in form. |
9. Style of expressing the thoughts and ideas in literary or musical composition, including the arrangement and order of the different parts of the whole. Also, method of arranging the ideas in logical reasoning; good or just order (of ideas, etc.),
† logical sequence.
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 84 b, The faulte that is in the forme, or maner of makyng [of a syllogism]. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 81 It reasoneth with itselfe in this forme and order. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxxv. 8 In polish'd form of well-refined pen. 1602 ― Ham. iii. i. 171 Nor what he spake, though it lack'd form a little, Was not like madness. 1667 Temple Let. Gourville Wks. 1731 II. 32, I am very little satisfied with the Queen of Spain's Letter..I think the Form is faulty, as well as the Substance. 1864 Bowen Logic vi. 149 Every correct step of Reasoning, considered simply as such, or in reference to its Form. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 6 Hardly a page of all these countless leaves is common form. 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, Form, the shape and order in which musical ideas are presented. 1879 Green Read. Eng. Hist. xxvii. 139 He read the Sonnets of Petrarca, and he learnt what is meant by ‘form’ in poetry. 1889 Lowell Latest Lit. Ess. (1892) 144 Form..is the artistic sense of decorum controlling the coordination of parts and ensuring their harmonious subservience to a common end. |
† 10. Manner, method, way, fashion (of doing anything).
in like form: in like manner.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 447 Ȝyf byssop..ded were, He grantede, þat þoru kyng non destourbance nere, Þat me ne chose in ryȝte fourme anoþer anon. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 177 Crist ȝyveþ his prechours foorme how þei shal lyue in þis work. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (1860) 24 It is in like fourme knowen of high recorde. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 195 In lyke fourme who comyth unto confessyon [etc.]. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. viii. 119 Over their shoulders, in the fourme and maner as the picture following doth shew. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 115 He..was crucified..as his master was, but after a diverse forme, with his head downward. |
11. a. A set, customary, or prescribed way of doing anything; a set method of procedure according to rule (
e.g. at law); formal procedure.
a matter of form: a point of formal procedure;
orig. a legal phrase; hence
colloq. = a merely formal affair; a point of ordinary routine.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 491 & in gode fourme acorded hii were. a 1300 Cursor M. 19981 (Cott.) Þe form þat him bitaght was ar O baptisȝing, he held it þar. 1596 Spenser State Irel. (Globe) 622/2 The wrongfull distrayning of any mans goodes. agaynst the forme of the Common Lawe. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 2 The plaine forme of marriage. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. viii. §284 Their general; who used, in all dispatches made by himself, to observe all decency in the forms. 1711 [see form n. 15]. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 55. 355 The Lords..only laid hold of some Forms of Law to have prevented Judgment. 1727 Swift Gulliver iii. iv. 205 He was content to go on in the old forms. 1787 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 272 A paper from the admiralty..sent to me as a matter of form. 1805 T. Lindley Voy. Brasil (1808) 77 To make his report..from whence he came, &c. (a form to which the Portuguese merchantmen are all subject). 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. ix. 706 The other commissioners being seldom called to deliberate, or so much as assemble for form sake. 1824 H. J. Stephen Treat. Princ. Pleading ii. §1. 254 As the party has no option in accepting the issue, when well tendered, and as the similiter may in that case be added for him, the acceptance of the issue when well tendered, may be considered as a mere matter of form. 1870 Lubbock Orig. Civiliz. i. (1875) 2 The form of capture in weddings. |
b. in form (now usually
in due or proper form): according to the rules or prescribed methods; also, as a matter of merely formal procedure, formally;
the form (somewhat
colloq.): the state of affairs, what is happening or going on, the position; the correct procedure.
| [1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) D vj, It sholde be putte in writinge, and reduitede in fourme of lawe.] 1703 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) V. 350 Count de Frize, governor of Landau, writes, that [he] expects to be attackt in form. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 164 ¶5 He recovered himself enough to give her the Absolution in Form. 1736 T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 24 The Art..of besieging a strong Town in Form. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones i. xi, The citadel was defended in form, and at length, in proper form surrendered at discretion. 1756–82 J. Warton Ess. Pope II. x. 128 The publisher..makes a grave apology..in form. 1805 T. Lindley Voy. Brasil xix, The laws, which heretofore existed only in form, have been thoroughly enforced. 1934 E. Waugh Handful of Dust 21 ‘I'm going to Hetton tomorrow.’..‘What's the form?’ ‘Very quiet and enjoyable.’ 1936 P. Fleming News from Tartary ii. ii. 76, I sent a wire to..Reuter's Correspondent at the capital..who..would be sure to know the form. 1940 N. Mitford Pigeon Pie xii. 192 She read somewhere that this was the form in Imperial Russia. 1951 ‘N. Shute’ Round Bend 87 He came along to the hotel each morning and evening to find out the form and when I wanted him. 1958 J. Cannan And be a Villain i. 36 Eve, you know the form—telephone for a doctor. |
† c. In University language: The regular course of exercises, attendance on lectures, etc., prescribed for a particular degree. Only in phrase
for his form = L.
pro forma.
Obs.| c 1470 Harding Chron. cx. heading, At Oxenford, where the clerkes be sworne they shall not rede for theyr fourme at Stamforde. 1523–9 Act 14–15 Hen. VIII, §3 in Oxf. & Camb. Enactm. 10 A Graduat of Oxforde or Cantebrygge which hath accomplisshed all thyng for his fourme. 1574 M. Stokys in Peacock Stat. Univ. Camb. (1841) App. A. 19 Iff a Bachelar off Dyvynyte preche for his Frurme. |
12. a. A set or fixed order of words (
e.g. as used in religious ritual); the customary or legal method of drawing up a writing or document.
| 1399 Rolls of Parlt. III. 424/1 Ȝe renounsed and cessed of the State of Kyng..uppe the fourme that is contened in the same Renunciation and Cession. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 9 Our lorde and sauyour Jesu Chryst hath gyuen vs a forme how to praye. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxvi. §1 A strange conceit, that to serve God with any set form of common prayer is superstitious. 1648 [see flat v.2 6 b]. 1660 Pepys Diary 17 Nov., I inquired..for a form for a nobleman to make one his Chaplain. But I understanding that there is not any, I did draw up one. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 121 ¶1 Monsieur Bayle..delivers the same Opinion, tho' in a bolder Form of Words. 1732 Law Serious C. xiv. (ed. 2) 241, I think a form of prayer very necessary. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 106 The form of this fine is—‘And the agreement is such, to wit, that [etc.].’ 1855 Dickens Dorrit i. x. You'll memorialise that Department (according to regular forms which you'll find out) for leave to memorialise this Department. |
b. A formulary document with blanks for the insertion of particulars.
| 1855 Dickens Dorrit i. x, I can give you plenty of forms to fill up. 1885 Act 48 Vict. c. 15 Sched. ii. Forms ii. Form A, You are hereby required to fill up accurately the underwritten form. 1895 Times 5 Feb. 12/3 A message written on a telegraph form. |
† c. A formula, recipe, prescription.
Obs.| 1484 Caxton Fables of Poge (1634) 213 A young man, that made pilles, after a certaine forme that he [a Physition] had shewed vnto him. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 147 Armetia..prescribeth this form for the cure of this evill: let the Dog be put into the water..and then..let his hair be shaved off [etc.]. 1610 P. Barrough Meth. Physick vii. xxiii. (1639) 410 The form and making wherof [ointments] is to be sought out of the Antidotaries. |
† 13. A formal agreement, settlement, or arrangement between parties; also, a formal commission or authority.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8766 An fourme hii made þat eiþer helde is owe lond in is hond. c 1305 St. Kenelm 314 in E.E.P. (1862) 56 Hi makede a forme þat [etc.]. 1411 Rolls of Parlt. III. 650/1 Hym to harme and dishonure, agayn the fourme of a Loveday taken bytwen the same parties. |
14. a. A set method of outward behaviour or procedure in accordance with prescribed usage, etiquette, ritual, etc.; a ceremony or formality. (Often
slightingly, as implying the absence of intrinsic meaning or reality.)
| 1612 Davies Discov. Causes why Ireland etc. 234 That the Parliamentes of Ireland, might want no desent or honorable forme that was vsed in England. 1643 J. Burroughes Exp. Hosea iv. (1652) 212 Many who have no religion but a forme, yet neglect Gods forme. 1676 G. Etherege Man of Mode i. i, The Forms and Civilities of the last Age. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §1 After the usual forms at first meeting, Euphranor and I sat down by them. 1805 T. Lindley Voy. Brasil (1808) 29 The sacrament, which was administered with all its forms. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India ii. v. vii. 620 They put on the forms of distance; and stood upon elevated terms [with the envoys]. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cv, For who would keep an ancient form Thro' which the spirit breathes no more? |
† b. A way of behaving oneself, an instance of behaviour of a given kind; in
pl. = manners.
Obs.| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 56 If the gentle spirit of mouing words Can no way change you to a milder forme. 1616 J. Haig in J. Russell Haigs vi. (1881) 140 My brother..breaks up the letter, whilk was no gentlemanly form. 1625 Bacon Ess., Ceremonies (Arb.) 25 It doth much adde to a Mans Reputation..to have good Formes. a 1639 Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. vi. (1655) 395 When he perceived the Kings countenance not to be towards him..he changed his forms. |
15. a. Behaviour according to prescribed or customary rules; observance of etiquette, ceremony, or decorum.
in (full, great) form: with due ceremony. Often
depreciatively: Mere outward ceremony or formality, conventional observance of etiquette, etc.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 305 Not o word spak he more than was nede, And that was said in forme & reverence. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 161 The glass of fashion and the mould of form. a 1672 Wood Life (1848) 118 A fellow of little or no religion, only for forme-sake. 1703 Steele Tend. Husb. v. i, We'll eat the Dinner, and have a Dance together, or we shall transgress all form. 1711 ― Spect. No. 147 ¶2 When I reflected on my former Performance of that Duty, I found I had run it over as a matter of Form. 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 116 They cou'd no more bury in Form, Rich or Poor. 1776 Foote Bankrupt i. Wks. 1799 II. 100 There is so much confinement, and form, even in the most fashionable families. 1788 Ld. Auckland Diary Lett. 1861 II. 74 We went in the evening in a carriage in full form. 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 37 Of giving thanks to God—not thanks of form, A word and a grimace, but rev'rently. 1805 T. Lindley Voy. Brasil (1808) 126 These officers accordingly attended in great form. 18.. Arnold in Stanley Life & Corr. (1844) II. App. A. 344 Whether while we worshipped Thee in form, we worshipped Thee in spirit and in truth. 1871 Farrar Witn. Hist. iii. 97 To plant the standard of Christian freedom upon the ruins of Levitical form. |
b. good (or bad) form: said of behaviour, manners, etc. which satisfy (or offend) the current ideals of ‘Society’; (good or bad) manners.
colloq.| 1868 Daily News 24 Dec., Happily it is not good form even to purchase the Bacchanalian handkerchiefs of the Burlington-arcade. 1883 E. B. England Notes Eurip. Iphig. in Tauris 122 This excellent sentiment makes us wonder if οἱ νέοι in Euripides's day thought energy ‘such awf'ly bad form, you know’. 1890 Spectator 7 June 791 It is not good intellectual form to grow angry in discussion. |
16. a. Sporting. Of a horse: Condition in regard to health and training; fitness for running or racing; style and speed in running (as compared with competitors). (See
quot. 1861.)
in form: fit to run, ‘in condition’; so
out of form. Said also of athletes (
e.g. oarsmen, cricketers) and players generally.
| 1760 R. Heber Horse Matches ix. 148 A horse in a very high form. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen (1809) 47 Bringing horses of different forms together over Newmarket. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales II. 115 To enable him to run in his best form. 1861 Walsh & Lupton Horse vi. 84 When we say that a horse is ‘in form’ we intend to convey to our hearers that he is in high condition and fit to run. 1869 M. A. Barker Station Life N. Zealand xvii. (1874) 126 One of the new chums, who was not supposed to be in good form for a long walk. 1880 W. Day Racehorse in Training xvi. 157 The mare had simply lost her form—she was not so good as a three- as she was as a two-year-old. 1882 Standard 20 Nov. 2/8 Mitchell was in good form, whilst Peall did not play so well as on previous days [at billiards]. 1883 Times 22 Oct. 10/2 Glocke..has not run in this country, but has shown fair form abroad. 1884 Camb. Rev. 10 Dec. 131 In the winning crew: M...kept his form well. |
b. transf. Liveliness, high spirits, conversational powers, or the like.
colloq.| 1877 Mrs. Church Father's Name (Tauchn.) II. i. 17 The Misses Lillietrip were in great form. 1884 Nonconformist & Indep. 7 Feb. 130/2 The Irish members..did not appear to have recovered their usual form. 1895 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 114 Macturk was in great form after his breakfast, apologising to my wife with the grandest air. |
c. slang. (Without preceding article.) A ‘police record’; a criminal conviction.
| 1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights iii. 151 You can get at least a five..for getting captured with a shooter especially if you've got a bit of form behind you. 1960 ‘M. Underwood’ Death by Misadventure vi. 91 He has form for false pretences, mostly small stuff. 1964 J. Prescot Case for Court vi. 107 There's loads of form written down on my conviction card... Juvenile court, police court, quarter sessions and assizes—I've seen 'em all. |
II. Denoting various material objects.
17. A long seat without a back, a bench.
[So
OF. forme,
med.L.
forma, applied also to the stalls in a choir, with back, and book-rest. For the origin of this use of the word,
cf. OF. s'asseoir en forme, to sit in a row or in fixed order.]
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 99 Benches, stoles, formes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 172/1 Foorme, longe stole, sponda. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxxii. 246 The munkes, with fourmes and candelstyckes, defended theym. 1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII, c. 10 The same fourme that the arche⁓bishop of Canterburie sitteth on. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 282 To sitte in the schoole of Christ vpon the learners forme. 1641 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 191 Item for 2 short fourmes to sett a coffin uppon. 1694 Evelyn Diary 5 Oct., I went to St. Paul's to see the choir..The pulling out the formes, like drawers, from under the stalls is ingenious. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 320 They have no Seats, as in our Churches, only Forms. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 33 A large cold room, garnished with deal tables and forms. 1875 A. R. Hope My Schoolboy Fr. 35 Abbing was made to stand upon a form. 1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship 139 The First Three Lessons..were read by Boys from each side alternately from the first Form. |
18. a. Mech., etc. A mould or ‘shape’; an implement on which anything is shaped or fashioned.
| a 1653 Gouge Comm. Heb. iii. 1 If the form be square or round, so will the metall be. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 63 To have a form of Wood turned to the height of the Cartredge. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Form..a kind of mould, whereon a thing is fashioned or wrought. Such are the hatters Form, the papermakers Form, &c. 1858 in Simmonds Dict. Trade. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Forms, the moulds for making wads by. |
b. A temporary structure for containing fresh concrete and giving it the required shape while it sets.
| 1908 T. Potter Concrete (ed. 3) xvi. 281 There are no set methods for making forms; a common-sense joiner will soon develop ideas of his own..especially if he sees castings turned out a few times. 1964 Economist 6 June 1151/1 A ‘slip form paver’..pulls along behind it its own shuttering or ‘forms’ which keep the concrete from spreading sideways as it sets. |
† 19. a. A window-frame. [So F.
forme.]
Obs.| 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 39 The glas and the foorme of stoon that longith vnto the same wyndowe. |
b. A case or box.
Obs.| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 1 Cause new fourmes of Lead to be made..in euerie of which fourmes place one flower..let these fourmes be well fitted with their apt couers, and sodered verie close. |
20. Printing. A body of type, secured in a chase, for printing at one impression. (Often spelt
forme.)
| 1481 Caxton Godfrey ccxii. 312 Whiche book I.. sette in forme & enprynted the xx day of nouembre. c 1483 ― Bk. for Trav. 24 b, At Westmestre by london In fourmes enprinted [Fr. En formes impressee]. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 337 The Printer that putteth ynke vpon the fourmes. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 315 He flew to the Printing-house and commanded the Compositors to distribute the form. 1771 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1887 I. 93 On occasion, I carried up and down stairs a large form of types in each hand. 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xv. 107 The printers, even with three sets of formes, often found themselves working off papers half through the night. 1888 J. Southward in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 700 The pages of types..are then ready to be made into a forme. |
21. a. The nest or lair in which a hare crouches. Also
rarely, of a deer.
| c 1290, etc. in M.E.D. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 318 I-buyd as an hare Whan he in forme lyth. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's T. 104 As in a fourme sitteth a wery hare. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 172/1 Foorme of an hare, or oþer lyke, lustrum. 1576 Turberv. Venerie 161 When a hare ryseth out of the fourme. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 695 The first point..for the killing of the Hare, consisteth in finding out her forme. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 38 In the dry crumbling Bank Their Forms they delve. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 329 The young [deer] keep close to their form, until the dam return to raise them. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. iii. (1852) 46 The Indians catch the Varying Hare by walking spirally round and round it when on its form. 1916 Blunden Harbingers 63 Strange streams Flow flagging in the undescribed deep fourms Of creatures born the first of all. 1952 R. Campbell tr. Poems of Baudelaire 77 Whereon as in a fourm you would fill out And mould your hair. |
b. transf.| 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 19 The knaue was started from his Fourme. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xxiii. 215 Some Fames are most difficult to trace home to their form. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. 1 (1656) 141 After he had hunted Pharoah out of all his formes and burrowes. |
III. 22. Comb., as
form-establishing,
form-fitting,
form-shifting adjs.; (sense 6 b)
form-fellow,
form-master,
form-room; (sense 12 b)
form-filling vbl. n.;
form-board, (
a) a device used in intelligence tests; (
b)
= form n. 18 b;
form book [
form n. 16], a record of the performances of a racehorse; also
transf.;
form-class, (
a)
Forestry (see
quot. 1905), (
b)
Linguistics, a class of linguistic forms having some feature in common, such as being usable in the same position within a given construction, or being spoken with exclamatory final pitch;
form-criticism Theol. [
tr. G.
formgeschichte], a method of literary criticism mainly applied to the Bible, and carried out by first classifying passages as belonging to certain forms (
e.g. sayings, myths), and then tracing the early history of these forms with the aim of discovering the original form and relating this to its historical setting; so
form-critic, one who engages in form-criticism;
form-critical adj.;
form drag Aeronaut., the drag on a moving body that depends directly on its shape and is due to the unequal pressure over its surface that results from the disturbance of the fluid;
form factor Forestry (see
quots.);
form-genus Biol., a collective group of
form-species, showing morphological similarities but not necessarily a genetic relationship;
form-historical a. = form-critical adj.; also
form-historian,
form-history;
form letter, a standardized letter,
esp. one that can be sent to correspondents who inquire about routine matters or topics of frequent occurrence;
form-line Cartography, (
usu. pl.) lines drawn on a map to indicate the estimated configuration or elevation between the contour lines;
† form-pieces Arch.,
pl. the pieces of stone which constitute the tracery of a window:
cf. form n. 19 a;
form quality [
tr. G.
gestaltqualität (C. von Ehrenfels 1890, in
Vierteljahrsschrift f. wissensch. Philos. XIV. 256] (see
quot. 1901);
form-species: see
form-genus;
form-symbol, a symbol designating the form of a crystal (see
form n. 1 c);
form-word Gram., a word serving the function of an inflexion; also
gen., a word expressing a formal or grammatical feature; a function word;
= functor 2;
formwork, timber, steel, etc. made up into a form or set of forms for concrete (see
form n. 18 b).
| 1917 L. M. Terman et al. Stanford Rev. Binet-Simon Scale vii. 142 In the *form-board test, the younger subjects were a little superior to the older. 1947 P. L. Harriman Dict. Psychol. 141 Form-board, a measure of intelligence which consists of blocks to be fitted into a recess. 1952 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Feb. 79 Two versions of the test, of which the first is a ‘formboard’ requiring the actual placing of a piece to complete the pattern. 1958 Archit. Rev. CXIII. 222/1 Formboards are laid between their flanges, mesh reinforcement is laid over tees and formboard, and gypsum concrete is pumped on to make a roof of about 3 in. thick. |
| 1923 Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xiv. 180 The race went by the *form-book all right. 1934 ― Right Ho, Jeeves i. 14 Gussie Fink-Nottle, against all the ruling of the form book, might have fallen in love. 1955 T. Rattigan Separate Tables i, According to this form book, Marston Lad is worth a bob or two each way. 1962 John o' London's 1 Feb. 115/1 Her acting range, when you go through the form-book, though deep, is also somewhat narrow. |
| 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging 12 *Form class, all trees in a stand so similar in form that the same form factor is applicable in determining their actual volume. 1921 E. Sapir Lang. Index 252 Form-classes. 1932 Forestry VI. 143 Each tree was placed in its form-class according to the value of the girth quotient. 1933 Bloomfield Lang. ix. 146 All English substantives belong to a form-class. Ibid. xii. 202 The form-class of limiting adjectives is much smaller than that of descriptive adjectives. 1958 C. F. Hockett Course in Mod. Ling. xviii. 162 A class of forms which have similar privileges of occurrence in building larger forms is a form-class. 1962 Householder & Saporta Probl. Lexicogr. 280 The principle of form-class equivalence, that glosses should be perfect and complete translations in respect to grammatical class. 1970 A. Cameron et al. Computers & O.E. Concordances 48 Through the form classes, the user has an index to various class correlations—agreement, concord, [etc.]. |
| 1933 V. Taylor Format. Gospel Trad. i. 19 The *Form-Critics..appear to proceed as if they had lighted upon a method which supersedes all others. 1951 H. Gardner Business of Criticism ii. ii. 105 The fundamental question which the form-critic asks is ‘Why was the story told?’ or ‘What is the point of the story?’ |
| 1933 V. Taylor Format. Gospel Trad. i. 19 The historical sketch will have served the purpose..of introducing the leading members of the *Form-critical School. 1957 D. E. Nineham Stud. Gospels p. x, He seemed largely to accept Bultmann's very negative assessment of the historical value of the Gospels as seen through form-critical eyes. |
| 1928 B. S. Easton Gospel before Gospels ii. 32 With Dibelius form-history is raised to the rank of a distinct discipline..in his hands ‘form-history’ becomes ‘*form-criticism’. 1935 C. H. Dodd Parables of Kingdom iv. 111 The most recent school of Gospel criticism, that of Formgeschichte, or ‘Form-criticism’, has taught us that in order to understand rightly any passage in the gospels we must enquire into the ‘setting in life’..in which the tradition underlying that passage took form. 1951 N. Annan L. Stephen vi. 183 Some critics declare that form-criticism, which discloses the tradition of the early Church, rather than source-criticism, is the most fruitful method of interpreting the evidence. 1963 C. H. Dodd Hist. Trad. in Fourth Gosp. 6 The application of form-criticism opened up new lines of approach. |
| 1931 T. G. Whitlock Appl. Aerodynam. iii. 38 *Form drag..is not a frictional or rubbing force acting tangentially to the surface, like skin friction. 1937 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 1120 Air resistance consists of the skin friction and of the drag due to the inertia of the medium (‘form drag’ according to modern terminology). 1951 D. O. Dommasch et al. Airplane Aerodynam. vi. 146 The various types of drag..are as follows: (1) form or pressure drag; (2) skin-friction drag; (3) induced drag; and (4) wave drag. 1970 A. C. Kermode Flight without Formulae 63 That part of the drag which is due to the shape or ‘form’ of a body, and which can be reduced by streamlining, is called form drag. |
| 1599 Daniel Musophilus Wks. (1717) 388 *Form-establishing Devotion. |
| 1895 W. Schlich Man. Forestry III. i. 36 Under ‘*form factor’ is understood the proportion which exists between the volume of a tree and that of a regularly shaped body which has the same base and height as the tree. 1953 Brit. Commonw. For. Term. I. 63 Form factor, the ratio of the volume of a tree or its part to the product of its basal area and height. |
| 1659 Fuller App. Inj. Innoc. i. 55 The Brittaines, *form-fellowes with the Grecians, were wholly given to Idolatry. 1820 Byron Let. to Murray 6 Oct., I met..my old school and form fellow. |
| 1857 Dickens Dorrit ii. viii. 387 The work of *form-filling,..memorandum-making. 1960 Guardian 3 Feb. 6/4 A minimum of fuss but plenty of form-filling. |
| 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 237/2 Balbriggan Drawers... Elastic and *form fitting. 1970 J. Sangster Touchfeather iv. 87 A girl like me, with a trim little form-fitting uniform to wear, has absolutely no place where she can conceal a gun. |
| 1873 Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. XIII. 411 He is careful to retain a complete and concise enumeration of the various ‘artificial species’, ‘*form-genera’, or ‘phases’, in which the natural species may manifest themselves. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 399/2 Billroth came forward in 1874 with the startling view that the various ‘form-species’ and ‘form-genera’ are only different states of one and the same organism. 1935 E. A. Bessey Text-bk. Mycol. xiv. 375 Since the genera based on asexual structures do not necessarily indicate true relationships of the included species the term ‘form genus’ was suggested for such groups by Schroeter. 1960 H. H. Swinnerton Fossils x. 58 These genera are therefore not based upon genetic affinity but upon outstanding similarities of form. They are in fact morphological or form genera marking grades of evolution. |
| 1928 B. S. Easton Gospel before Gospels ii. 31 The Synoptic material, obviously, offers a tempting field to the *form-historian. Ibid. iii. 59 In 1924 such an examination appeared, The Form-Historical Method, by Licentiate Emil Fascher. 1934 F. C. Grant in Bultmann's Form Criticism i. 7 To grasp the main outlines of the form-historical method. 1954 Scott. Jrnl. Theol. VII. 339 There is considerable evidence on form-historical principles themselves. |
| 1909 Sat. Even. Post 13 Feb. 8/1 The credit man..had a perfect passion for *form letters. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 11 Mar. 16/7 The original bill and the polite note are as nothing compared with the ‘form’ letter sent out by firms which make a business of debt collecting. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt iii. §3 The fortnightly form-letter, to be mimeographed and sent out to a thousand ‘prospects’. 1932 Crooks & Dawson Etheridge's Dict. Typewriting (ed. 3) 147 Form letters..are printed forms or skeleton letters which are allotted numbers for identification by the typists when they are instructed..to send stock letters in reply to inquiries which do not warrant separate letters. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) Mag. 17 Feb. 5 A form letter to boys who send in asking for hockey photos. |
| 1935 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXVI. 253 The topography sketched in by the use of *formlines at intervals of approximately 200 feet. 1951 F. Stark Beyond Euphrates 231, I am still in hectic work over my map, which has to have all the heights and form-lines fixed by Tuesday. 1961 L. D. Stamp Gloss. Geogr. Terms 125/1 Many cartographers are careful to draw a distinction between ‘contours’ which are based on instrumental survey and ‘form-lines’ which are sketched in from general observations. |
| 1888 Daily News 10 Sept. 5/3 The active rivalry of *form masters. |
| 1360 Ely Sacrist. Roll (Parker Gloss. Arch.) In 2 lapidibus vocat *fourme peces empt. 5s. 1450 in Hist. Dunelm. Script. tres (Surtees) 325 Pro factura ij formpeys. |
| 1901 Baldwin Dict. Philos. I. 391/2 *Form quality, that which characterizes a mental whole as being of a particular form, as being formed, or as having relations of parts. 1938 R. S. Woodworth Exper. Psychol. xxv. 623 The form quality of the tune does not reside in the constituent notes but in their pattern and mutual relations. 1948 Mind LVII. 23 We can..apprehend directly such form-qualities as sketchiness and schematicity. 1955 F. H. Allport Theories of Perception xviii. 498 Form-qualities are one type of such universals, for..they transcend the particular receptor pattern made by the stimulus-object of the moment. |
| 1875 Cliftonian Apr. 40 Let the admirer of antiquity confine his excitement to the *form-room. 1897 H. W. Bleackley Short Innings xv, The bell..signified that all the boys should be in their form rooms. 1907 C. L. Thomson Teaching English 11 The form-room library, under the control of the form mistress. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 225 A *forme-shyfting deuill disguised in mans lykenesse. |
| 1959 Dana's Man. Mineral. (ed. 17) ii. 27 Miller indices also may be used as *form symbols and are then enclosed in braces. |
| 1875 Whitney Life Lang. ii. 21 The auxiliary apparatus of inflections and *form-words. 1889 Cent. Dict., Formword,..a word showing relation only or chiefly; an independent word performing an office such as in other languages..is performed by the formative parts of words. 1892 H. Sweet New Eng. Gram. I. 22 We call such words as the and is form-words, because they are words in form only. When a form-word is entirely devoid of meaning, we may call it an empty word, as opposed to full words such as earth and round. 1937–8 Proc. Arist. Soc. XXXVIII. 196 Such form-words as all, some, this, not, and and implies. 1964 English Studies XLV. 241 Such formwords as thou, yon(der, and there. 1967 [see functor 2]. |
| 1918 Hool & Johnson Concrete Engineers' Handbk. ii. 94 *Formwork, of course, should in every case leave the finished concrete true to line and surface. 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 83 (caption) The arrangement of rough timber formwork into which the concrete is poured. 1962 Engineering 31 Aug. 267/1 A method of using precision-made steel formwork for the placing in situ of structural concrete in room width tunnel sections. |
Add:
[III.] [22.] form sheet Racing (
orig. U.S.), a (printed) record of the past performance of a racehorse or racehorses; a form book; also
transf., any past record,
esp. of criminal convictions.
| 1911 G. Ade in N.Y. Times Mag. 17 Sept. 14/3 One day he was in a Pool Room working on the *Form Sheet with about 150 other Students. 1971 [see flashing vbl. n.1 5]. 1983 H. Evans Good Times, Bad Times vi. 120 It was remarked that Thomson hardly had Murdoch's form sheet. |
▪ II. form, v.1 (
fɔːm)
Also 4–6
fourme(n, (4–5
foorme,
fowrme,
fowrym).
[a. OF. fourme-r (Fr. former) = Pr. and Sp. formar, ad. L. formāre, f. forma form n.] 1. a. trans. To give form or shape to; to put into or reduce to shape; to fashion, mould.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 600 We..No figure of fin gold fourme þer-inne. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 470 The Rib he formd and fashond with his hands. 1738 Wesley Hymn, ‘All Glory to the dying Lamb’ v, Send down the Spirit of thy Son To form my Heart divine. 1809 Roland Fencing 64 Return to nearly the same position..but forming the parade with a firm, supple, and precise motion. |
| absol. 1869 Ward tr. Curtius' Hist. Greece II. ii. iv. 74 Here artists had formed in clay from a very early date. |
† b. To express in formal shape; to formulate; to state formally. Also with
up.
Obs.| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 99 Þe bisshop of Parys þe pes þan formed he. 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair iv. vi, Hee'll go neare to forme to her what a debauch'd Rascall I am. 1675 Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 286, Seven several pleas, that all sincere Christians may form up. |
c. To give a specified form to; to mould or fashion
into a certain shape, or
after,
by,
from,
upon a certain pattern or model; to conform
to.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3179 Yfourmed as a dragon ase red ase fur. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3781 God louyþ euery creature þat he formed to hys fygure. c 1330 King of Tars 578 Yif Mahoun and Jovin con Make hit iformed aftur mon, With lyf and lymes ariht. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 25 Þat worme es turned till a fewle perfitely fourmed. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xviii. 332 (Add. MS.) The soule, sette aboute with vertues, whan god fourmed it to his liknesse. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxiii. 263 By y⊇ lorde that fourmyd me to his semblaunce. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 64 Charles..divided the Countrey into several parts, and formed it into better order. 1683 Salmon Doron Med. i. 107 Forme it into Lozenges of what Fashion you please. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 172 A state formed after the model of Crete should..have a character for virtue. |
d. intr. To shape itself
into. Also,
† to agree in form, fit
with.
| 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 183 In short time wears the outside of that Corner to comply and form with the hollow of the Gouge. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. iii. (1894) 72 A ridge of rocky peaks, forming into two ridges about its centre. |
† e. trans. To express by form, to ‘body forth’.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 1 Sith it [Chastity] is shrined in my Soveraines brest, And form'd so lively in each perfect part, That [etc.]. |
† f. To agree formally
to do something.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 10946 There þai fourmyt a fest..Serten dayes by-dene duly to hold. |
g. Electr. (
i) [after F.
former (G. Planté 1872, in
Compt. Rend. LXXIV. 593).] To convert electrolytically the surface of (a positive or
† negative plate of a lead-acid accumulator) into its active form by passing a direct current through it in both directions alternately.
| 1881 S. P. Thompson Storage Electr. 11/2 M. Planté..minutely describes the process of ‘forming’ the cell. Ibid., The charges may last several hours, and by the end of several months, the cell will be well ‘formed’. 1932 Althouse & Turnquist Mod. Storage Battery Pract. iii. 73 After the active materials have been pasted into the plates, the plates are formed by a series of charges and discharges. 1964 G. Smith Storage Batteries ii. 23 Planté negatives have been obsolete for many years, and it is modern practice to form Planté positives against plain lead sheets, or ‘dummies’. |
(
ii) To subject (a semiconductor device or some kinds of rectifier) to a relatively large current or voltage in order to produce or modify permanently certain electrical characteristics.
| 1926 [implied by forming vbl. n. b]. 1949 Bardeen & Brattain in Physical Rev. 2nd Ser. LXXV. 1210/1 When the two points were connected as emitter and collector, and the collector was electrically formed, transistor action was obtained. 1953 R. A. Harvey Battery Chargers iv. 92 Once the [selenium] rectifier is formed it remains reasonably stable. 1962 L. P. Hunter Handbk. Semiconductor Electronics (ed. 2) viii. 15 A procedure similar to that of forming a point contact can be used to create small-area PN junctions under a metal contact. |
2. a. To mould by discipline or education; to train, instruct. Now
rare,
exc. with the mind, a faculty, etc. as object. Also
refl. to shape one's conduct, style, etc.
on or
upon (a model).
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvii. 29 Þaire maners ere fourmed of samen lifynge. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 305 Thus form'd, for speed he [a horse] challenges the Wind. 1724 A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 140 It seems..natural for a body of slaves..to be form'd by their masters. 1746 Col. Records Pennsylv. V. 51 One of Your Royal Blood, form'd upon your Majestie's Example. 1749 Smollett Gil Blas v. i, On this hint I formed myself. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 715/2 The reward he gave him for forming his son was..honourable. 1778 Earl Pembroke Equitation 87 There is a great deal of good sense in Xenophon's method of forming horses for war. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. 2 The most skilful masters..had laboured to form the mind and body of the young prince. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 18 Van Helmont..was formed in the school of Alchemy. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women & B. II. vii. 96 Formed under their auspices, our parrot soon equalled his instructors. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars iv. 197 Rudely scrawled by some one whose hand is not yet formed. |
| absol. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 371 But if gyle be mayster And flaterere his felawe vnder hym to fourmen. |
b. To inform
of; also, to instruct.
Obs.| 1399 Langl. R. Redeles iv. 58 Somme..to þe kyng wente, And fformed him of foos, þat good ffrendis weren. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 71 What may þey do, but..abid til þei be formid wiþ holy writ, how hem is best to do? |
† c. To instigate, persuade.
Obs.| 1399 Langl. R. Redeles i. 107 Þe ffrist þat ȝou fformed to þat ffals dede, He shulde have hadde hongynge on hie on þe fforckis. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8027 How þat faire, by his fader, was fourmet to wende To the grekes. |
3. a. To place in order, arrange. Also, to embody, organize (persons or things)
into (a society, system, etc.).
Cf. 8 a.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 39 Þat I ne schal sende ȝor soules saaf in-to heuene, And bi-foren þe Face of my Fader fourmen or seetes. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1101 But setis make yfourmed as thee list. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety xv. 360 Our divisions with the Romanists..are thus form'd into an interest. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 309 We were commanded..to form ourselves into a Ring. 1772 T. Simes Mil. Guide (1781) 12 The routes must be so formed, that no column cross another on the march. 1874 Green Short Hist. ii. §6. 93 The Clerks of the Royal Chapel were formed into a body of secretaries. |
b. intr. for refl. (
Cf. 8 b.)
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 44 The noisy rout..Form round the ring superior strength to show. |
4. a. To construct, frame; to make, bring into existence, produce. Const.
from,
of,
out of (the material or elements). Also, to articulate, pronounce (a word, etc.).
| c 1300 Havelok 36 God..Formede hire wimman to be born. 1382 Wyclif Gen. ii. 7 God thanne fourmede man of the slyme of the erthe. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 139 He answerde me bablynge as a childe þat begynneþ to speke but he myȝte formen non worde. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xlvii. 204 (Harl. MS.) Adam, the whiche was shapin and formide in the felde of Damaske. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 10 When the worlde was fourmed & create. 1551 Bp. Gardiner Explic. Transubst. 107 Whenne God formed Adam of claye. 1577 Hellowes Gueuara's Chron. 75 He made the Goddesse Venus in Alabaster..and of waxe did fourme the whole Island Creta. 1611 Bible 2 Esdras vi. 39 The sound of mans voice was not yet formed. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 570 The liquid Ore he draend Into fit moulds prepar'd; from which he form'd First his own Tooles. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 151 The oxygen of the oxide of the gold seizes on the hydrogen and forms water. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 294 It had recently been formed out of the cavalry who had returned from Tangier. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 202 The snow had given way, forming a zigzag fissure across the slope. 1885 Antiquary Sept. 89/1 Henry VIII...was the first English king to form a gallery of pictures. |
b. To frame in the mind, conceive (an idea, judgement, opinion, etc.).
† Formerly also, to imagine;
occas. to form to oneself (
= Fr. se figurer), and with complement.
| 1595 Shakes. John iv. iii. 45 Could thought, without this obiect, Forme such another? 1667 Decay Chr. Piety xv. 357 The defeat of the secular Design, is commonly the routing those Opinions which were formed for the promoting it. 1678 Dryden All for Love ii. Wks. 1883 V. 369, I formed the danger greater than it was, And now 'tis near, 'tis lessened. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. ii. i. 424 My sad Soul Has form'd a dismal melancholy Scene. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 533 ¶2 Form to yourself what a persecution this must needs be to a virtuous and chaste mind. 1779 Burke Corr. (1844) II. 270, I do not form an estimate of the ideas of the churches of Italy and France from the pulpits of Edinburgh. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 44 The reader..may form to himself some notion of what [etc.]. 1866 J. Martineau Ess. I. 277 We form no judgments till we have got language. |
c. Parliamentary.
= constitute 6 b.
| 1825 T. Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. 11 Many members being assembled, but the House not yet formed. |
d. refl. and intr. for refl.| 1801 Southey Thalaba i. xxiv. Three years no cloud had form'd. 1830 Tennyson Sea-Fairies 25 The rainbow forms and flies on the land Over the islands free. 1864 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. vii. (1875) 113 Very early..had the belief formed itself that [etc.]. 1880 J. A. Spalding Eliz. Demonol. 128 Stop the butter from forming in the churn. 1893 Law Times XCV. 40/1 A sheet of ice had formed in front of Proctor's house. |
5. To develop in oneself, acquire (habits); to enter into (a junction); to contract (an alliance, friendship, etc.).
| 1736 Butler Anal. i. v. Wks. 1874 I. 90 Active habits are to be formed by exercise. 1781 Hist. Eur. in Ann. Reg. 2/1 The French..formed a junction with the Spaniards. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 634 We..form connexions, but acquire no friend. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, II. xii. 309 With the Flemings..our country had from the earliest times formed an uninterrupted intercourse. 1842 Lytton Zanoni 22 He formed no friends. 1891 Speaker 2 May 531/1 Those methodical readers, who have formed the useful habit of keeping commonplace books. |
6. a. To be the components or material of; to go to make up, to compose.
b. To serve for, constitute; to make
one or
part of.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 169 The fyngres fourmen a ful hande to purtreye or peynten. 1717 tr. Frezier's Voy. S. Sea 48 The Continent, with which it [the island] forms two Passages. 1781 Cowper Friendship 14 The requisites that form a friend. 1817 Coleridge Sibyll. Leaves, Fire, Famine & Slaughter, Letters four do form his name. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 294 The Life Guards..now form two regiments. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 77. §39 The soil forming such butt or target. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. §2. 275 Yeomen and tradesmen formed the bulk of the insurgents. 1885 Manch. Exam. 15 July 5/2 A common mould fungus..forming a kind of black velvety mass. |
| b. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 35 Every molehill forms a seat. 1841 Brewster Mart. Sc. vi. (1856) 91 His eminent pupil Viviani formed one of his family. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 27 The volume of the canons which had formed the object of his study. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xi. 59 A realm of which Northumberland constitutionally formed a part. |
c. With mixture of sense 2: To render fit
for.
| 1711 Steele Spect. No. 49 ¶3 These are the Men formed for Society. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. (1778) I. ii. 84 All these qualities formed him for command. |
7. Gram. a. To construct (a new word) by derivation, composition, etc.
b. Of a word or word-stem: To have (a case, tense, etc.) expressed by a specified inflexion.
| 1824 L. Murray Gram. I. 348 Dissyllables, formed by prefixing a syllable to the radical word. 1872 Morris Eng. Accid. xiii. 168 The verbs of the strong conjugation form the past tense by a change of the root-vowel. |
8. Milit. and
Naval.
a. To draw up (troops, etc.) in order. Also with
up.
| [c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 115 Walter Spek ros on hand, þe folk to forme & taile. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6334 The fourthe batell in feld, he fourmet to leng With Archelaus.] 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 5 The troops mount, and, the whole being formed, move off the ground. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 56 The left files to be formed up, and sit at ease. 1838–42 Arnold Hist. Rome III. xliii. 78 Hannibal..forming his men as fast as they landed, led them instantly to the charge. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. ii. 69 For there was none to form their ranks for fight. 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 41 We were then formed up and served with some rations. |
b. refl. and intr. Of troops, ships, etc.: To arrange themselves in or assume some particular disposition or formation, according to prescribed rules. Also with
up.
to form on (some other body): see
quot. 1802.
| 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 236 Our army formed immediately. 1736 T. Lediard Life Marlborough II. 494 The first Squadrons..had much ado to form themselves. 1795 Nelson 10 Mar. in Nicolas Disp. II. 11 The Admiral made the signal to form in the Order of Battle. 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 77 They will at once form up. 1799 Harris in Owen Wellesley's Desp. 119 The right wing of the army under my command formed on the picquets of the right. 1802 C. James Milit. Dict., To Form on, is to advance forward, so as to connect yourself with any given object of formation, and to lengthen the line. 1803 Lake in Owen Wellesley's Desp. 405 The infantry formed in two columns. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley viii. 126 The soldiers formed themselves round the waggon. 1859 Tennyson Riflemen Form! ii, Form, Form, Riflemen Form! Ready, be ready to meet the storm! 1883 Army Corps Orders in Standard 22 Mar. 3/3 When the ‘assemble’ sounds both Forces will form up by Brigades. |
c. trans. To arrange themselves in the form of (battalions, a line, etc.). Esp. in the orders
form fours! and
form two deep!| 1772 T. Simes Mil. Guide (1781) 12 The companies will..form battalions as they advance to the head of the line, and then halt. 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 152 The whole are ordered to halt, with an intention of forming line in the new direction. Ibid. 225 Form open column of divisions behind the right. 1889 Infantry Drill 152 The companies that will form the side faces will form fours in the required direction. Ibid. 154 On the words Form Two-Deep, the original rear-rank men will take one pace to the rear. 1915 ‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand i, ‘Squoad—'Shun! Move to the right in fours. Forrm—fourrrs!’..‘On the command {oqq}form fours{cqq}, odd numbers will stand fast.’..‘Forrm—two deep!’ |
d. to form the siege (of a place) [
Fr. former un siège]: to commence active siege-operations (against it).
| 1766 Gibbon Decl. & F. I. xi. 218 The siege of that great city was immediately formed. 1802 C. James Milit. Dict. s.v. Siege, To form the Siege, or lay Siege to a place..there must be an army sufficient to furnish five or six reliefs for the trenches, pioneers, guards, convoys, escorts, &c. and artillery, with all the apparatus thereto belonging; magazines, etc. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 155 The whole army now drew near; the siege was formed. |
▪ III. form, v.2 (
fɔːm)
[f. the n.: see form n. 21.] intr. Of a hare: To take to her form; to seat.
| 1575 Turbervile Art Ven. lviii. 162 To looke about hir, and to choose out a place to forme in. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. ij, The melancholy hare is formed in brakes and briers. 1637 B. Jonson Sad Sheph. ii. vii, First think which way shee fourmeth, on what wind: Or North, or South. 1725 Coates Dict. Herald., Seateth or Formeth are the Terms that note where the Hare has its resting Place. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. i. i. 17 A hare [was said to be] formed, a rabbit set. |