Preform is from pre- ('before') + form. Form derives from Old French forme, from Latin forma ('shape, figure, form'). Important recorded forms include forma (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers to form or shape beforehand; a partly shaped piece of material. The wider family includes derived forms such as preformation and related words such as form, conform, transform, and deform.