Etymologically
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formation

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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