See Also: Form S-1(money)
Form 10-K(finance)
form(encyclopedia)
form(4)(dictionary)
re-form(dictionary)
Form S-8(money)
art form(dictionary)
wax form(medicine)
BD form(money)
Form T(money)

form(2) (iou)



form noun. Also (now only in sense 18) forme. ME.
[Old & mod. French forme from Latin forma mould, shape, beauty.]
I. Shape, arrangement of parts.
The visual aspect, esp. the shape or configuration, of a thing; the shape of a body. ME.
A. MacLean The Schloss Adler was built in the form of a hollow square. J. S. Foster The fabric..gives character and form to the spaces within it.
b. Beauty, comeliness. LME-M17.
c. Shape and structure considered abstractly as an element in the arts. M19.
O. N. Rood In painting..colour is subordinate to form. Dance Theatre Journal Everything she had to say..was right there in the dancing...She expressed everything through form.
d. Crystallography. More fully crystal form. A set of crystal faces all of which have the same relation to the symmetry elements. L19.
An image, a likeness, a representation. ME-E17.
A person or animal as visible or tangible. ME.
D. Welch I did not notice the dark form on the bench. I. Murdoch Felix stood..his tall form blotting out the evening star.
The particular mode in which a thing exists or manifests itself. ME.
D. L. Sayers The arsenic was taken in liquid form. B. Moore God was there..in the form of a wafer of bread and a chalice of wine.
b. A species, a kind, a variety; an artistic or literary genre. LME.
A. S. Byatt A form is as good as the writer who chooses it. Jo Grimond Traces of a primitive form of barley..have been found.
c. Linguistics. Any of the ways in which a word may be pronounced, inflected, or spelt; the external characteristics of a word or other unit as distinct from its meaning. M18.
Max-Musc;ller The Chinese sound ta means, without any change of form, great, greatness, and to be great.
d. Botany. A taxonomic grouping ranking below a variety, which contains organisms differing from a given variety, subspecies, etc., in some trivial, freq. impermanent, character, e.g. a colour variant. L19.
The way in which something is done or made; method, fashion. ME-M17.
A set, customary, or prescribed way of doing something; correct or usual procedure. ME.
b. The present state of affairs; what is happening or going on, what is to be done. colloq. M20.
B. Bainbridge What's the form tonight? You are coming, I take it.
A model, a type, a pattern, an example. LME-L17.
Philosophy.
a. In Platonic philosophy, the transcendent idea or archetype which serves as the pattern for a created thing. LME.
b. In Aristotelian and scholastic philosophy, the essential determinant principle of a thing; that which makes something (matter) a determinate species or kind of being. LME.
c. In Kantian philosophy, that element of knowledge which is supplied by the mind and gives reality and objectivity to the thing known, as distinct from the element (matter) supplied by feeling. E19.
Arrangement and expression of ideas esp. in the arts; style in musical or literary composition. LME.
J. R. Lowell Form..is the artistic sense of decorum controlling the coordination of parts.
A set or fixed order of words; the customary or legal method of drawing up a document etc. Also, a regularly drawn document. LME.
D. L. Sayers They were married in the old..Prayer Book form, and the bride said 'Obey'.
b. A recipe, a prescription. LME-E17.
c. A document with blanks to be filled up. M19.
L. van der Post There was no filling in of forms in triplicate.
a. Behaviour according to prescribed or customary rules; observance of etiquette, decorum, etc. Also derog., outward observance or conformity without intrinsic sincerity. LME.
J. Grahame Giving thanks to Godnot thanks of form, A word and a grimace, but reverently.
b. Orig., a way of behaving oneself; an instance of a specified kind of behaviour; in pl., manners. Later, a mode of behaviour or procedure in accordance with prescribed usage, etiquette, etc., a ceremony. Freq. derog., a ritual without intrinsic meaning. L16.
M. Mitchell The old usages went on, must go on, for the forms were all that were left to them.
a. A grade or degree of rank, eminence, or quality. LME-E18.
S. Pepys Thinking is working, though many forms beneath what my Lady and you are doing.
b. Any of the classes in which schoolchildren may be placed according to age or ability. M16.
Mortimer Collins He was in the fifth form at Eton.
Orderly arrangement of parts; regularity, good order. L16.
P. Scott My passion for form and order..everything used but with care and kept clean.
Of a racehorse, an athlete, etc.: condition of health and training, fitness. Also, record of previous performances by a racehorse, an athlete, etc. M18.
S. L. Elliott A bloke might try and get some form up and get in the football team next winter. Observer On 1984 form, there are eight drivers who stand a good chance of winning today.
b. Liveliness, good spirits. colloq. L19.
P. Booth 'Dad's sure in good form today,' she yelled.
c. Criminal activity on public record. slang. M20.
P. Laurie The boy's elder brother had form for doping greyhounds.
II. A material object.
A mould, frame, or block in or on which something is shaped. ME.
Daily Telegraph You warm a small amount of metal, put it in the scroll form and gradually pull it round to the shape.
b. spec. A temporary structure for holding fresh concrete in shape while it sets. E20.
The lair of a hare. ME.
M. Burton A slight depression in the long grass known as a 'form', where the hare habitually crouches during the day.
A long seat without a back, a bench. LME.
A. Uttley They sat outside..on long low forms.
Printing. (Usu. forme.) Type set and locked in a chase ready for printing; a quantity of film arranged for making a plate etc. L15.
F. Norris We begin to set Saturday's paper at about four Friday afternoon, and the forms are locked about two in the morning.
Phrases: a matter of form a point of correct procedure; colloq. mere routine. bad form: offending against current social conventions. common form: see COMMON adjective. crystal form: see sense 1d above. good form: complying with current social conventions. in any shape or form: see SHAPE noun1. in due form, in proper form, etc., according to the conventions, (merely) formally. in form (a) = in due form above; (b) = in good form below. in good form etc., playing or performing well, in good spirits. in no shape or form: see SHAPE noun1. in proper form: see in due form above. off form not performing well, not at one's best. on form = in good form above. true to form: see TRUE adjective, noun, & adverb.
Comb.: form-board a board with spaces to take blocks of various shapes and sizes, used in intelligence tests; form book a record of the performances of a racehorse etc.; form catalogue a library catalogue in which books of a certain kind or literary genre are listed together; form class (a) Forestry a group of trees having a similar form factor (see below); (b) Linguistics a class of linguistic forms with grammatical features in common; form-critic a person who engages in form-criticism; form-criticism textual analysis of the Bible etc. by tracing the history of its content of proverbs, myths, and other forms; form drag the drag on a moving body resulting from its shape; form factor Forestry the ratio of the volume of a tree to that of a regularly-shaped body of the same height and base; form-genus (chiefly Mycology & Palaeontology) a collective group of (parts of) organisms showing morphological similarities but not necessarily a genetic relationship; a group of similar trace fossils; form-historian = form-critic above; form-history = form-criticism above; form-letter a standardized letter to deal with frequently occurring matters; form-line Cartography a line drawn on a map to show the estimated configuration or elevation between the contour lines (usu. in pl.); form-master, form-mistress, a teacher who has particular responsibility for a class of schoolchildren; form quality a quality of the whole of something rather than of its constituent parts; form-room the room where a class of schoolchildren is based; form-species a subdivision of a form-genus; form sheet (orig. US) = form book above; form word a word with a formal or grammatical function; formwork = sense 15b above.
formful adjective (now rare or obsolete) full of form or forms; shapely; imaginative: M18.
formless adjective shapeless, having no determinate or regular form L16.
formlessly adverb L19.
formlessness noun E18.