Form

Forms

Form f (genitive Form, plural Formen)^[1] Middle High German had form and forme.^[2][3] The noun was occasionally masculine until the beginning of the 19th century, and Upper German also had a masculine furm.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German forme, borrowed from Latin fōrma (“shape, figure, appearance”), borrowed in the 13th century.^[5][6][7] The revised Grimm dictionary takes the Upper German masculine form from Old French fourme,^[4] and derives the sense “fitness” from English form.^[4][8] The same word is Dutch vorm and French forme.^[5] Duden mentions that fōrma may itself be borrowed from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape”), perhaps through Etruscan.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record, from Herbort von Fritzlar (about 1190), is isolated and probably means “letter, linguistic form”.^[4] The word became established about the middle of the 13th century, at first referring only to the human figure;^[6][7] the Grimms note that the Middle High German poets of the classical period avoided it, and that Konrad von Würzburg was the first to use it, as in die ritterlîchen forme sîn “his knightly figure”.^[10][3] A text of 1250 calls a rule a forme in which one may see oneself as in a mirror.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Paul notes that until the 17th century it was still used of people, and then more generally of the shape of anything.^[11] Duden traces the development from “outward shape, outline” to “pattern, model” and “manner, character, state of mind”.^[9] From the 15th century it was applied to linguistic structures.^[11] In the 18th century it spread to social institutions (Staatsform, Regierungsform) and to manners, as in Knigge;^[11] the mould for casting is recorded by Henisch.^[11] Kluge notes that its many senses come partly from Latin, partly from English and partly from developments within German.^[5]

Derivatives are formen (Middle High German), förmlich, from Middle High German formelich “proper, seemly”, and formlos;^[6][9] the second element -förmig is found from the 14th century, as in gotformec “shaped like God”.^[6] Umgangsformen “manners” dates from the 19th century.^[6] English borrowed form in its Kantian sense in 1803,^[12] and Ich-Form “first-person narrative” was borrowed as Czech ich-forma.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1190 – Herbort von Fritzlar uses formen in an isolated sense.^[4]
• c. 1250 – The word is borrowed into general use.^[6][7]
• 1349–1350 – Konrad von Megenberg writes that the devil can take the form of any animal.^[4][7]
• 14th century – Adjectives in -förmig appear.^[6]
• 15th century – The word is applied to linguistic structures.^[11]
• 18th century – Staatsform and the sense “manners” appear.^[11]
• 1803 – English borrows form in its Kantian sense.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. Outward shape, the outline in which something appears: a vase in the form of a pear;^[8][1] (feste) Formen annehmen is to take shape, and in Form von means “in the form of”.^[8][1]
2. The way a content is presented; literary or artistic form: a poem in the form of a sonnet.^[8]
3. The manner in which something exists; a variety;^[8][13] (grammar) an inflected form: the forms of a noun.^[8][13]
4. Fixed social conventions, etiquette: die Form wahren is to keep up appearances, and in aller Form means “formally, explicitly”.^[8][1]
5. (especially sports) fitness, condition: in Form sein is to be on form.^[8]
6. A mould, a baking tin or casting mould.^[8]

Word family

• formen
• Formung
• förmlich
• formlos
• Umgangsformen
• Staatsform
• Backform
• gleichförmig

Related words

• formal
• formell
• Formel
• formieren
• Uniform
• konform

Usage notes

Aus der Form gehen (colloquial, jocular) is to put on a lot of weight.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
3. ^ a b Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 474
4. ^ a b c d e f Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 9, 759
5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 310
6. ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b c d e Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 281
10. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 1897
11. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
12. ^ a b c Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
13. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org