English

form

/fɔːm/
The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    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".

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishforme “shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”
      • derivedOld Frenchforme
        • derivedLatinforma “shape; figure; form”
          • derivedAncient Greekμορφή “shape, form”

    Words built on it: former, back-form

    Sources