form

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A type or kind of something.

   Tennis is a popular form of exercise.

2. 2
   noun

   An official document with spaces for you to write information.

   Please fill in this form with your name and address.

3. 3
   noun

   The shape or outward appearance of something.

   A dark form appeared at the end of the corridor.

4. 4
   noun

   The way something exists or appears.

   My anger took the form of complete silence.

5. 5
   noun

   How well a person or team is performing.

   The team is in great form this season.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Form entered English in the Middle English period and goes back to Latin forma, meaning “a mould or form.” It is an element in conform “make like something else,” deform “mis-shape,” and reform “put back into shape.”

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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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary