forma Italian · revision 38428

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1257, Bonagiunta Orbicciani|origins=la forma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfor.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''forma''' ''f'' (plural forme)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|forma|t=form, shape; mould; beauty]].^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DELI, however, classes it with its derivatives among the learned words taken from Latin.^(DELI 1999) The word is found across Romance: [[fr|forme]], [[oc|forma]], [[ca|forma]], [[es|horma|t=shoemaker's last]], [[pt|forma]], [[sc|fròmma]] and [[ro|formă]], the last a learned form.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) From Italian it passed into Turkish for a printer's forme and into the Arabic of Syria and Palestine for a shoe last.^(DEI|1689)

+

+ The origin of Latin “forma” is not settled.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its first vowel was probably lengthened late before /r/ and a consonant.^(de Vaan 2008) Because [[m|la|formīca|t=ant]] and [[m|la|formīdō|t=fear; scarecrow]] show an older *m*–*m* changed to *f*–*m*, it may go back to *morma, a borrowing of [[grc|μορφή|tr=morphḗ|t=shape]], perhaps through Etruscan, or both words may come from a third language.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1689)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The sporting sense, as in “essere in forma”, is new: Panzini (1908) thought it arose because [[en|performance]] was hard to pronounce, while Klajn derives it straight from English [[m|en|form]].^(DELI 1999) DEI also treats it as a calque of the English word.^(DEI|1689)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first dated sense is physical beauty, in Bonagiunta Orbicciani, who died before 1257; in 1282 Restoro d'Arezzo uses ''forma'' for the universal principle opposed to matter, and Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for a person's bodily build.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The outward shape of a thing is in Giordano da Pisa around 1304, who praises “so many beautiful forms” made for the delight of the eye.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) Dino Compagni, in 1310–1312, already has ''forma'' for a way of living, for the constitution of a state and for a mould used to shape things.^(DELI 1999) Dante used it for the philosophical form, the essential principle of a being.^(DEI|1689)

+

+ Technical senses followed: the cheese made in a mould and the mould itself (1350 and 1561), the shoemaker's last and the hat block (14th century), the grammatical form of a word in Pietro Bembo (1525), and the printer's forme in Tommaso Garzoni (1585).^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1689) In the 20th century ''forma'' came to mean an athlete's or a racehorse's condition (1902, Alfredo Oriani) and then anyone's good physical and mental state (1961, Paolo Monelli).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|formōsus|t=beautiful]] gave way to [[bello]] in Italian, but lives on in [[es|hermoso]], [[pt|formoso]] and [[ro|frumos]], and in some Friulian place names.^(DELI 1999) Through Old French ''formage'' the word is also behind [[formaggio]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1257 – Bonagiunta Orbicciani uses ''forma'' for beauty.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses it for form as opposed to matter.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for the outward shape of things.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for a way of life, the form of a state and a mould.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1350 – The Italian Crescenzi uses it for a whole cheese.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1525 – Pietro Bembo uses it for the form of a word.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1585 – Tommaso Garzoni uses it for the printer's forme.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1902 – Alfredo Oriani uses it for an athlete's condition.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1961 – Paolo Monelli uses it for a person's good shape.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|shape]], outward appearance, as given by the outline or surface of a thing: ''un vaso dalla forma allungata''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(chiefly plural)'' The lines of the human body, especially the curves of a woman's figure.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A vague, indistinct figure: ''una forma scura in fondo al corridoio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A [[m|en|kind]], type or way in which something exists or shows itself: ''forme di governo'', ''una forma lieve della malattia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The way something is expressed, as against its content; [[m|en|style]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A literary, metrical or musical scheme: ''un poema in forma di dialogo''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Correct manners, ''(plural)'' social conventions: ''salvare le forme''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' Form, the principle that gives matter its being, in its various senses from Plato and Aristotle to Kant.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(grammar)'' The form of a word in its inflection.^(DELI 1999)^(Wikizionario)

+ # A [[m|en|mould]] or block for shaping something, such as a shoemaker's last or a printer's forme.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|1689)

+ # A whole cheese made in a round mould: ''una forma di pecorino stagionato''.^(DELI 1999)^(Wikizionario)

+ # ''(sport)'' Condition, fitness: ''essere in forma'', to be fit, to feel well.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[formare]]

+ * [[formale]]

+ * [[formalità]]

+ * [[formalismo]]

+ * [[formalizzare]]

+ * [[formato]]

+ * [[formazione]]

+ * [[formella]]

+ * [[formina]]

+ * [[formoso]]

+ * [[informale]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[formaggio]]

+ * [[formula]]

+ * [[la|forma]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ DEI lists an old homograph ''forma'' “ditch, channel”, recorded at Ravenna in the 10th century and at Rome as ''furma'' in 1195, and still alive in central and southern dialects; it continues the Latin word in the sense of a channel for water, found already in Pliny.^(DEI|1689)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}