forma

Forms

forma f (plural formas)^[1] In the senses “mould, baking tin” the word is pronounced with a closed /o/ and may be written fôrma.^[2][1] Folqman's dictionary of 1755 already writes Fôrma for the shoemaker's last.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fōrma (“shape, appearance; mould”), written Old Galician-Portuguese forma in the oldest texts.^[2][4][5][1] Houaiss explains that Portuguese split the Latin senses: the abstract ones (“shape, manner, appearance”) stayed with the form with an open /ɔ/, and the concrete ones (“mould, frame”) went to the variant with a closed /o/, which he calls a divergent form of the same word.^[2] Wiktionary treats the open-vowel word as a learned borrowing and the closed-vowel word as the inherited one, and Nascentes (1955) also calls the word learned.^[1][6] Cunha lists the mould sense as a second entry of the same origin, first recorded in the 17th century.^[4]

The same Latin word is Spanish horma “shoemaker's last”, Catalan forma, Old French fourme and Italian forma;^[7][1][8] Spanish forma is a learned word.^[7][1][8] Derivatives of the Latin word give French fromage and Italian formaggio “cheese”.^[7]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[1] Wiktionary mentions a proposed borrowing through Etruscan from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape”), with the two /m/ dissimilated;^[1][6] Nascentes reports that Cornu took the Portuguese word directly from the Greek to explain its closed vowel.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document of 1257 has que uesse responder su tal forma “that he should come to answer in such a manner”.^[9] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria the word means “shape, likeness”, as when the devil tornou-ss'en forma d'ome sabedor “turned himself into the shape of a learned man”, and in cantiga 196 it is already a mould for casting: fezera hũa forma pera deitar hũa ymagen “he had made a mould to cast an image”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The medieval language already had both groups of senses, “shape, manner” and “mould”.^[9] A notary of 1305 writes en poblica forma “in public form”, the legal phrase that lives on in pública-forma, a certified copy.^[9][1] Cardoso's dictionary of 1562 glosses the word as “beauty”, with Latin decor.^[10] Bluteau (1712) has the philosophical sense, the form that joins matter to make each natural body, beside “figure”.^[11]

The craft senses were recorded early: Barbosa (1611) has formas de çapateyro “shoemakers' lasts”, and Morais (1789) adds the potter's or papier-mâché mould and the clay vessel in which sugar was refined.^[12][13] Figueiredo (1899) lists the hatter's block, the cheese basket and the printer's forme.^[14] Today the closed-vowel word also names a cake or baking tin.^[2][1]

Modern senses of the open-vowel word include “state of matter”, “physical fitness” (em forma), “grammatical form” and the military “formation”.^[2][15][1] Wiktionary lists borrowings into Gujarati and Bengali.^[1]

Timeline

• 1257 – su tal forma “in such a manner” in a document.^[9]
• 13th century, second half – the Cantigas de Santa Maria use forma for a shape and for a casting mould.^[9]
• 1305 – en poblica forma in a notarial act.^[9]
• 1562 – Cardoso glosses forma as “beauty”.^[10]
• 1611 – Barbosa has formas de çapateyro.^[12]
• 17th century – Cunha's first date for the sense “mould”.^[4]
• 1712 – Bluteau gives the philosophical and the logical senses.^[11]
• 1755 – Folqman writes Fôrma for the shoemaker's last.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. shape, form: the outline or configuration of a body or thing.^[2][16][1]
2. The physical state in which something exists: a água na forma de vapor.^[2]
3. A dimly seen figure.^[16]
4. manner, way: de forma nenhuma “in no way”;^[2][1] de qualquer forma “anyway”.^[2][1]
5. (grammar) Each of the shapes a word takes in inflection.^[1][15]
6. (military) A formation, a line of troops.^[1][15]
7. Physical or mental fitness: estar em forma.^[17][1]
8. (closed /o/, also fôrma) A mould into which something fluid is poured to set in its shape.^[2][1]
9. (closed /o/, also fôrma) A cake or baking tin.^[2][1]
10. (closed /o/, also fôrma) A shoemaker's last; a hatter's block.^[17][18]
11. (closed /o/; printing) A forme, the frame of type locked up for printing.^[18][1]
12. (Azores) A button.^[19][1]

Word family

• forminha
• formazinha
• pública-forma
• forma-sonata
• forma-pensamento

Related words

• deformar
• formação
• formado
• formal
• formar
• formato
• formoso
• reforma
• reformar
• Latin forma
• Spanish horma

Usage notes

The two pronunciations separate the meanings: forma with an open /ɔ/ is “shape, manner”, and forma with a closed /o/ is the concrete “mould, tin, last”.^[2][15][1] The second may be written with a circumflex, fôrma, to keep the two apart;^[1] Wiktionary gives it as an alternative spelling.^[1] Letra de forma “block letters” belongs to the closed-vowel word.^[1]

Schlee notes that in the south of Brazil the word for “shape” is written like the mould word but said with the open vowel.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. forma
3. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. forma
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. forma
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. forma
6. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 223
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. forma
9. ^ a b c d e f g Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. forma
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1562), Dictionarium juventuti studiosae admodum frugiferum, Coimbra: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. forma
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. forma
12. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. forma
13. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 627
14. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 625
15. ^ a b c d Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. forma
16. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. forma
17. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. forma
18. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. forma
19. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. forma
20. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. forma