formation

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /fɔɹˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/ UK /fɔːˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/ See IPA manual

Freq #7439

Meanings

1

noun
The act or process of forming or developing something.

The formation of the new government took several weeks.
2

noun
A particular arrangement of people or things acting as a group.

The planes flew over the city in tight formation.
3

noun
A layer or mass of rock of a particular type.

The cave is famous for its unusual rock formations.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the act or process of... constitution

Word family

Forms formations

Derived forms back-formationelectroformationformationalgeoformationmalformationmicroformationmisformationneoformationnonformationosteoformationpostformationpreformation

Related forms form

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

geological formation
a recognizable body or arrangement of rock produced by natural processes

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English formacioun, formation, borrowed from Old French formacion, from Latin fōrmātiō, from fōrmō (“form”, verb); see form as verb. Morphologically form + -ation.

formacioun Middle English formacion Old French fōrmātiō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# formation

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /fɔɹˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
**IPA (UK):** /fɔːˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
**Frequency rank:** 7439

## Meanings
1. The act or process of forming or developing something.
2. A particular arrangement of people or things acting as a group.
3. A layer or mass of rock of a particular type.

## Examples
- The formation of the new government took several weeks.
- The planes flew over the city in tight formation.
- The cave is famous for its unusual rock formations.

## Derived Forms
- back-formation
- electroformation
- formational
- geoformation
- malformation
- microformation
- misformation
- neoformation
- nonformation
- osteoformation
- postformation
- preformation

## Related Forms
- form

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: formacioun
- Root: formacion
- Root: fōrmātiō

## Etymology
From Middle English formacioun, formation, borrowed from Old French formacion, from Latin fōrmātiō, from fōrmō (“form”, verb); see form as verb. Morphologically form + -ation.

## AI Etymology
Formation comes from Middle English formacioun, formation, borrowed from Old French formacion, from Latin fōrmātiō, from fōrmō (“form”, verb); see form as verb. Morphologically form + -ation. In current use, the main senses are “The act or process of forming or developing something” and “A particular arrangement of people or things acting as a group”.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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