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forme

Etymology and origin of the French word forme

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
late 11th century, Rashi's glosses
Borrowed from
Latin forma
Ultimate origin
Latin (fōrma)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin forma
English form
French forme

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fɔʁm/[1]

Forms

forme f (plural formes)[1] In the Middle Ages also fourme, furme.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin fōrma (“mould; shape, form; beauty”).[5][6][4][7] Rey and the Petit Robert note that the Latin word seems linked to Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape”) by a metathesis, perhaps borrowed through Etruscan.[6][8] Wiktionary treats it as inherited through Old French.[1] The popular form of the same word survives in fromage, cheese shaped in a mould, and in fourme, through Provençal.[8]

Cognate with Romanian formă, Italian forma, Spanish forma and German Form.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record (late 11th century, in Rashi's glosses) is technical: the last on which shoes are made.[5][6][3] Philippe de Thaon (1119) has it for the visible shape of a thing.[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 12th century it meant the features that make a being recognizable (Wace, 1155), and en forme de “in the shape of” is in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1165).[5] As in Latin, it named things that shape others or have a characteristic shape: a bench (about 1200), a hare's form (about 1330), a dry dock (1386), a printer's forme (1549), a hat block (1636), whence haut-de-forme.[5][6]

Abstract senses came from scholastic Latin: the philosophical form (1270), a way of proceeding (1280), and the way a thought is expressed (14th century).[5][6][4] In law it is the outward shape of an act (1549), whence en bonne et due forme (1700) and sans autre forme de procès (1585); in the plural les formes are good manners.[6][5] From racing (Le Sport, 1862) came être en forme, en pleine forme.[5][9]

Timeline

  • Late 11th century – A shoemaker's last, in Rashi's glosses.[5]
  • 1119 – Visible shape, Philippe de Thaon.[5]
  • c. 1165 – En forme de.[5]
  • 1270 – The philosophical form.[5]
  • 1549 – A printer's forme.[5]
  • 1585 – Sans autre forme de procès.[5]
  • 1636 – Forme de chapeau.[5]
  • 1862 – Physical condition, of a racehorse.[5][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. shape, form; outline: en forme de cœur, prendre forme.[1][8]
  2. A figure, a silhouette seen indistinctly, (plural) the curves of the body.[6]
  3. A kind, type, variety: une forme de gouvernement, (grammar) la forme du pluriel.[6][1]
  4. The way something is expressed or presented, opposed to the content: la forme et le fond.[6][5]
  5. (law) The outward form of an act: vice de forme, en bonne et due forme, (plural) good manners: y mettre les formes.[1][6]
  6. Physical or mental condition: être en forme, en pleine forme.[5][1]
  7. A mould; a shoemaker's last; a hat block.[5][6]

Word family

  • plate-forme
  • reformer
  • difforme
  • formel
  • former
  • formulaire
  • formule
  • informe
  • fromage
  • Latin fōrma

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 713b
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Forme.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/forme. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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