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for·mat

(fôrmăt′)

1. A plan for the organization and arrangement of a specified production.

2. The material form or layout of a publication.

3. Computers

a. The arrangement of data for storage or display.

b. A method for achieving such an arrangement.

tr.v. for·mat·ted, for·mat·ting, for·mats

1. To plan or arrange in a specified form: They formatted the conference so that each speaker had less than 15 minutes to deliver a paper.

2. Computers

a. To divide (a disk) into marked sectors to allow for the storage of data.

b. To determine the arrangement of (data) for storage or display.

[French, ultimately from Latin fōrmātus, past participle of fōrmāre, to form, from fōrma, form.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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