English
form
Form comes from Middle English forme ‘shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat,…’, and goes back to Latin fōrma.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfōrma‘shape’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400forme‘shape’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘shape’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfōrma‘shape’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400forme‘shape’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘shape’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485form
Earliest quotation: 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XX: “And there with syr Launcelot wrapped his mantel aboute…”
The story
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".disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Linked words
through Ancient Greek μορφή ‘shape, fashion, appearance, outward form,…’
morphology, amorphous, morph, 35 more
through Latin fōrma ‘shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold,…’
information, transformation, informatics, uniformity, fromage, deformable, 29 more
Today it means
noun The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin fōrma / form