uniform English · revision 5963

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1540|origins=la uniformis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈjuː.nɪ.fɔːm/, US /ˈjuː.nə.fɔːrm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|uniforme]] and directly [[bor|la|ūniformis|t=having only one form or shape]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from ūni- “one” (see [[uni-]]) and forma “form” (see [[form]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun is from French uniforme, a noun use of the adjective.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of one form, character or kind: 1540 in Barnhart and the OED;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Etymonline has the late 15th century, and uniformly from the mid-15th.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun first appears in the phrase ''in uniform'', in one body or flock, in 1623, a sense now gone.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The distinctive dress worn by all members of a group, at first military, is from 1748;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) worn by a civilian body it is from 1837, and a single suit of it from 1783.^(OED 1989) The customary dress of a type of person, as in the uniform of a city worker, is from 1930,^(OED 1989) and a person in uniform, especially a police officer, by 1978,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a use that Etymonline compares with ''suit'' for a businessman (1979).^(Etymonline) The verb, to make alike, is from the 1680s,^(Etymonline) and to dress in uniform from 1861, during the American Civil War.^(Etymonline) ''Uniformity'' is from probably before 1425.^(Barnhart 1988) Uniform is also the code word for the letter U in radio communication.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1540 – of one form.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1623 – ''in uniform'', in one body.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1680s – the verb, to make alike.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1748 – military uniform.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1837 – civilian uniform.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1861 – to dress in uniform.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1978 – a uniformed police officer.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Always the same; not varying: ''a uniform temperature''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Conforming to the same rule or standard; [[consistent]].^(AHD)

+ # Alike in texture, colour or design.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A distinctive set of [[clothes]] worn by the members of a group, such as soldiers or schoolchildren.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A police officer who wears a uniform.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make uniform, or to dress in a uniform.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[uniformity]]

+ * [[uniformly]]

+ * [[uniformness]]

+ * [[uniformize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[form]]

+ * [[uni-]]

+ * [[unit]]

+ * [[conform]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}