late 14c., name for the god of dreams in Ovid, son of Sleep, literally "the maker of shapes," from Greek morphē "form, shape, figure," especially "a fine figure, a beautiful form; beauty, fashion, outward appearance," a word of uncertain etymology. Related: Morphean. Morphō was an epithet of Aphrodite at Sparta, literally "shapely."

mid-14c., confourmen, "be obedient (to God), comply," from Old French conformer "conform (to), agree (to), make or be similar, be agreeable" (13c.) and directly from Latin conformare "to fashion, to form, to shape; educate; modify," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + formare "to form" (see form (v.)).

Meaning "to make of the same form or character; bring into harmony, make agreeable," and intransitive sense of "act in accordance with an example" are from late 14c. Sense of "to comply with the usages of the Church of England" is from 1610s; hence conformist (1630s), opposed to non-conformist or dissenter. Related: Conformance; conformed; conforming.

1510s, "act of adjusting or bringing into conformity," from Latin conformationem (nominative conformatio) "a symmetrical forming," noun of action from past participle stem of conformare "to fashion, to form, to shape; educate; modify," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + formare "to form" (see form (v.)). Meaning "manner in which a body is formed" is from 1640s.

early 15c., conformyte, conformite, "similarity, correspondence in form or manner," from Old French conformité (14c.), from Late Latin conformitatem (nominative conformitas), from conformis "similar in shape," from conformare "to fashion, to form, to shape; educate; modify," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + formare "to form" (see form (v.)). Meaning "action in accordance with some standard" is from late 15c.; that of "adherence to the Church of England" is from 1620s. Modern spelling is from 17c.

late 14c., from form (v.) + -able, or from Late Latin formabilis.

"one who gives form," mid-14c., agent noun from form (v.). The Latin agent noun was formator.

French for "cheese," from French fromage, originally formage (13c.), from Medieval Latin formaticum (source also of Italian formaggio), properly "anything made in a form," from Latin forma "shape, form, mold" (see form (v.)). Papias the Lombard (11c.) has caseus vulgo formaticum.

"ill-formed, having defects of formation," 1801, from mal- + formed, past participle of form (v.).

"formed in advance of use or further preparation," c. 1600, from Latin praeformare or else from pre- + formed (see form (v.)). Of plastic and synthetic products, from 1918. A verb preform "form beforehand" seems to be late and rare in English. Related: Preformation (1732).

"form again, remake, reconstruct, re-create or re-establish," mid-14c., from re- "back, again" + form (v.). Intransitive sense of "form again, get into order or line again" also is from mid-14c. Spelled with a hyphen from 17c. to distinguish it from the specific sense in reform; this is the original meaning of that word, still in use but now with full pronunciation of the prefix. Related: Re-formed; re-forming; re-formation.