formar

Forms

formar (first-person singular present formo, first-person singular preterite formé, past participle formado)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin fōrmō (“to shape, fashion”), derived from fōrma (“form, shape; beauty”).^[2][3][4][1] Corominas treats the noun forma as a very old semi-learned word, found already in the Glosas Silenses and a document of 1206, and dates the verb to Berceo.^[2][3] The same Latin verb is Portuguese formar, Catalan formar, French former and Italian formare.^[5]

The origin of the Latin noun is unknown.^[1] De Vaan suggests that it may go back to *morma, with the same dissimilation of ⟨m…m⟩ to ⟨f…m⟩ as in formīca (“ant”), and that it and Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”) were perhaps borrowed from a third language, or the Greek word passed into Latin through Etruscan.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is in Almerich's Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), in God's words to Jeremiah: antes que te formas en el vientre te conoci “before you were formed in the womb I knew you”.^[7] The DEMel also lists the Vida de santa María Egipciaca (c. 1215–1220), and Corominas and the BDELC date the verb to Berceo (1220–1250), in the sense “to give shape”.^[8][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for nature forming children in the womb, and Nebrija (1495) defines it as “to bring to a certain form”.^[9][10] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1732) gives three senses: to give shape, to bring different things together into one body (as in forming an army), and in military use to draw up troops in order, formar el escuadrón.^[11]

The Academy's 1884 dictionary has the sense “to rear, educate”, and the embroiderers' sense of outlining the designs with twisted silk.^[12] The educational sense is now one of the main ones, with the reflexive formarse “to train, become educated”;^[4][13] Mexico and Honduras also use the verb in printing for laying out the pages of a text.^[4][13]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar uses it of a child formed in the womb.^[7]
• c. 1215–1220 – the Vida de santa María Egipciaca has the verb.^[8]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo uses it, the first record Corominas gives.^[2][3]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario speaks of nature erring in forming children.^[9]
• 1495 – Nebrija gives the Latin formo.^[10]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the military formar el escuadrón.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary has “to rear, educate”.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give forma or shape to something.^[4][1]
2. To make something come into being; reflexive, to form, arise: La lluvia formó charcos en el camino.^[4][1]
3. To bring people or things together so that they make one body or one whole: formar un equipo.^[4]
4. Of two or more people or things, to make up the whole of which they are parts, to constitute.^[4][1]
5. To train or educate a person or group intellectually, morally or professionally.^[4][1]
6. (military) To draw up troops in order.^[4][11]
7. (Mexico, printing) To lay out the pages of a text ready for printing.^[4][13]
8. (intransitive) Of a person, to take one's place in a formation or procession, to line up.^[4][1]
9. (embroidery) To outline the designs drawn on the cloth with twisted silk or chenille.^[4][12]
10. (reflexive) To acquire intellectual, moral or professional training: Se formó como ingeniera en Valencia.^[4]

Word family

• formación
• formativo

Related words

• forma
• formal
• fórmula
• conformar
• informar
• Latin fōrmō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 932
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. forma
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. formar
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. formar
8. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. formar
9. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. formar
10. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 354
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 780
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 505
13. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. formar