forma Latin · revision 2934

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Naevius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈfoːr.ma], [ˈfoːr.maː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɔr.ma], [ˈfɔr.ma]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fōrma''' ''f'' (genitive fōrmae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan notes that [[formica|alt=formīca]] “ant” and [[formido|alt=formīdō]] “bogey” point to a change of *m–m to *f–m, so it may go back to *morma.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD compares [[grc|μορφή|tr=morphḗ|t=shape, form]]; de Vaan suggests both words may have been borrowed from a third language, or the Greek word may have reached Latin through Etruscan.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Donatus derived it from an old word [[m|la|fornus|t=heat]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Naevius onwards.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In Plautus someone says of a stranger, “I know him by his figure, not by his colour”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant visible [[m|en|form]], appearance and shape, and a person's looks.^(OLD 2012) Often it meant beauty, as in the Scipio epitaph that praises a man “whose beauty matched his virtue”, and in Plautus' praise of a girl.^(OLD 2012) It also meant an arrangement or plan, the terms of a document, a mode or state, a category and a kind, as Virgil's “all the forms of crime”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In grammar it was the form of a word, as in Varro, and in law ''ex forma'' meant “in due form”.^(OLD 2012) It was a figure or image, a surveyor's map, and a mould for casting.^(OLD 2012) Medieval Latin used it for an aqueduct, an arch, a choir-stall, a seal, and a cheese (''forma casei''),^(Niermeyer 1976) and music theory for musical structure.^(LmL) The printer Aldus used ''parva forma'' for a small book format.^(Ramminger) It survives as Italian ''forma'', Spanish ''horma'' and French ''forme'', and English ''form'' came from Old French about 1200.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a person's figure and for beauty.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for the forms of a word.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for kinds of crime.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – English ''form'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|Form]], shape, appearance.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A person's figure, looks.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|Beauty]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An arrangement, plan, design.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The terms (of a document, law).^(OLD 2012)

+ # A mode, state; a category; a kind, sort.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(grammar)'' A form of a word.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''ex forma'' In due form.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A figure, image.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A map, plan.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|mould]], model.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An aqueduct; an arch; a seal; a cheese.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ambiformiter]]

+ * [[bifōrmis]]

+ * [[cōnfōrmis]]

+ * [[dēfōrmis]]

+ * [[fōrmāceus]]

+ * [[fōrmālis]]

+ * [[fōrmella]]

+ * [[fōrmō]]

+ * [[fōrmōsus]]

+ * [[fōrmula]]

+ * [[īnfōrmis]]

+ * [[quadrifōrmis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fōrmīca]]

+ * [[fōrmīdō]]

+ * [[en|form]]

+ * [[en|formula]]

+ * [[en|format]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''figura'', shape in a purely geometrical sense, from ''forma'', shape seen aesthetically, as beautiful or not.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}