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formation

Etymology and origin of the English word formation

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1450
Borrowed from
Old French formacion via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (formatio)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /fɔːˈmeɪ.ʃən/, US /fɔːrˈmeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English formacioun, borrowed from Old French formacion (“formation, fashioning, creation”) and directly from Latin formatio (“a forming, shaping”),[2][3] a noun of action from formāre “to form”,[2][4] from forma “form, shape”, the source of form.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The vital force in plants and animals: the late 14th century in Etymonline.[2] The act or process of forming, the early 15th century in Etymonline and about 1450 in the OED.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The thing formed is from 1646 (the 1640s in Etymonline),[5][2] and the manner in which something is formed, its structure, from 1774.[5] An arrangement of troops is from 1796–7,[5] and of aircraft flying together from 1914.[5] In geology a group of rocks of similar origin or character is from 1815,[2][5] and in ecology a plant community from 1898.[5] Formation dancing is from 1936.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1450 – the act of forming.[5]
  • 1646 – a thing formed.[5]
  • 1774 – structure.[5]
  • 1796 – an arrangement of troops.[5]
  • 1815 – a rock formation.[2][5]
  • 1914 – aircraft in formation.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The process of forming or developing something.
  2. Something that has been formed, especially a mass of rock or cloud.
  3. An arrangement of people, ships or aircraft, especially in military use.
  4. (geology) A body of rock with a common character, the basic unit of rock layers.

Word family

  • formational
  • back-formation
  • malformation
  • misformation
  • neoformation
  • nonformation
  • preformation
  • reformation

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Formation.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/formation. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·