Adjacent Words

Formation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FORMA'TION, n. [L. formatio.]
1. The act of forming or making; the act of creating or causing to exist; or more generally, the operation of composing, by bringing materials together, or of shaping and giving form; as the formation of the earth; the formation of a state or constitution.
2. Generation; production; as the formation of ideas.
3. The manner in which a thing is formed. Examine the peculiar formation of the heart.
4. In grammar, the act or manner of forming one word from another, as controller from control.
5. In geology, formation may signify a single mass of one kind of rock, more or less extensive, or a collection of mineral substances, formed by the same agent, under the same or similar circumstances; or it may convey the idea, that certain masses or collections of minerals were formed not only by the same agent, but also at the same time. In this latter sense the term is almost always employed.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit; "a defensive formation"; "a formation of planes"
2: the act of fabricating something in a particular shape [syn: formation, shaping]
3: the act of forming or establishing something; "the constitution of a PTA group last year"; "it was the establishment of his reputation"; "he still remembers the organization of the club" [syn: constitution, establishment, formation, organization, organisation]
4: (geology) the geological features of the earth [syn: geological formation, formation]
5: a particular spatial arrangement
6: natural process that causes something to form; "the formation of gas in the intestine"; "the formation of crystals"; "the formation of pseudopods"
7: creation by mental activity; "the formation of sentences"; "the formation of memories"

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century 1. an act of giving form or shape to something or of taking form ; development 2. something that is formed <new word formations> 3. the manner in which a thing is formed ; structure <the peculiar formation of the heart> 4. a major kind of plant growth (as forest, grassland, or tundra) characteristic of a broad ecological region 5. a. any igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rock represented as a unit b. any sedimentary bed or consecutive series of beds sufficiently homogeneous or distinctive to be a unit 6. an arrangement of a body or group of persons or things in some prescribed manner or for a particular purpose <flying in formation>

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) 1. An ordered arrangement of troops and/or vehicles for a specific purpose. 2. An ordered arrangement of two or more ships, units, or aircraft proceeding together under a commander.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or an instance of forming; the process of being formed. 2 a thing formed. 3 a structure or arrangement of parts. 4 a particular arrangement, e.g. of troops, aircraft in flight, etc. 5 Geol. an assemblage of rocks or series of strata having some common characteristic. Derivatives: formational adj. Etymology: ME f. OF formation or L formatio (as FORM)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Formation For*ma"tion, n. [L. formatio: cf. F. formation.] 1. The act of giving form or shape to anything; a forming; a shaping. --Beattie. 2. The manner in which a thing is formed; structure; construction; conformation; form; as, the peculiar formation of the heart. 3. A substance formed or deposited. 4. (Geol.) (a) Mineral deposits and rock masses designated with reference to their origin; as, the siliceous formation about geysers; alluvial formations; marine formations. (b) A group of beds of the same age or period; as, the Eocene formation. 5. (Mil.) The arrangement of a body of troops, as in a square, column, etc. --Farrow.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(formations) 1. The formation of something is the starting or creation of it. ...the formation of a new government. = creation N-UNCOUNT: with supp, usu the N of n 2. The formation of an idea, habit, relationship, or character is the process of developing and establishing it. My profession had an important influence in the formation of my character and temperament. = development N-UNCOUNT: with supp 3. If people or things are in formation, they are arranged in a particular pattern as they move. He was flying in formation with seven other jets... N-COUNT: also a N, usu in N 4. A rock or cloud formation is rock or cloud of a particular shape or structure. ...a vast rock formation shaped like a pillar... Enormous cloud formations formed a purple mass. N-COUNT: n N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Creation, production. 2. Composition, constitution, making up. 3. Arrangement, combination, disposal, disposition.

Moby Thesaurus

Platonic form, Platonic idea, accumulation, acronym, acrostic, aesthetic form, allocation, allotment, anatomy, appearance, apportionment, archetype, architectonics, architecture, arrangement, array, arraying, art form, assemblage, assembly, avyayibhava, back formation, build, building, buildup, cast, casting, clipped word, close formation, collation, collocation, combination, composition, compound, concord, configuration, conformation, conjugate, constitution, construction, conversion, crafting, craftsmanship, creation, crystallization, cultivation, cut, deployment, design, development, devising, display, disposal, disposition, distribution, dvandva, dvigu, echelon, effectuation, efformation, elaboration, embodiment, endocentric compound, erection, establishment, exocentric compound, extraction, fabric, fabrication, fashion, fashioning, figuration, figure, forging, form, format, formation flying, formature, forming, formulation, foundation, founding, frame, framing, generation, genesis, genre, getup, grouping, growing, handicraft, handiwork, harmony, harvesting, impression, inauguration, inception, incorporation, inner form, installation, institution, junction, layout, lineup, machining, make, makeup, making, manufacture, manufacturing, marshaling, materialization, matrix, milling, mining, mixture, modality, mode, model, modeling, mold, molding, morphogenesis, morphogeny, order, ordering, organic structure, organism, organization, organizing, paronym, pattern, patterning, peace, physique, piecing together, placement, plan, prefabrication, preparation, processing, producing, production, proportion, prototype, putting together, quiet, quietude, raising, realization, refining, regimentation, regularity, routine, sculpture, set, set-up, setting-up, setup, shape, shaping, significant form, smelting, spoonerism, stamp, structure, structuring, style, symmetry, syneresis, syntax, synthesis, system, tatpurusha, tectonics, texture, tissue, tranquillity, turn, type, uniformity, warp and woof, weave, web, word form, workmanship