Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “formation” come from?

Formation derives from Old French formacion, from Latin formatio, from the verb formo meaning "to shape," ultimately from Latin forma and Ancient Greek μορφή meaning "form" or "shape."

formation (English): Something possessing structure or form; The act...

Definitions

  1. Something possessing structure or form; The act...

Ancestry of “formation”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchformacion—
2Latinfōrmātiō—
3Latin-tiō—
4Latindissertātiō—
5Latindissertusarranged, disposed; explained
6Latindissereresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
7Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
8Latincalceusshoe
9Latincalxlimestone; chalk; the finish line
10Ancient Greekχάλιξsmall stone, pebble; gravel, rubble

Words derived from “formation”

  • malformation
  • preformation
  • formational
  • preformationism
  • neoformation
  • intraformational
  • preformationist
  • electroformation
  • misformation
  • postformation
  • unformation
  • interformational
  • preformationary
  • geoformation
  • re-formation
  • antipreformationist
  • backformation
  • back-formation
  • osteoformation
Every word from Ancient Greek χάλιξ →