format meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

format

noun

UK /ˈfɔː(ɹ).mæt/ · US /ˈfɔːɹ.mæt/

Etymology Via French format and German Format, from New Latin liber fōrmātus (“book fashioned”), from fōrmō (“to shape, fashion”).

The layout of a publication or document.

The older manuscripts had been written in a much larger format than that found convenient for university work.1896, George Haven Putnam, Books and Their Makers During the Middle Ages:

Broadly The form of presentation of something.

Broadcasting, Media, Radio The type of programming that a radio station broadcasts; such as a certain genre of music, news, sports, talk, etc.

The radio station changed the format of its evening program.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A file type.

Derived terms: container format, E-format, file format, formatize, format string, Harvard format, large format, letterbox format, medium format, microformat, multiformat, package format, radio format, subformat, wildmat, zoo format

format

verb

Etymology Via French format and German Format, from New Latin liber fōrmātus (“book fashioned”), from fōrmō (“to shape, fashion”).

To create or edit the layout of a document.

Change a document so it will fit onto a different type of page.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To prepare a mass storage medium for initial use, erasing any existing data in the process.

I lost weeks of work when I inadvertently formatted my hard drive.

Synonyms: reformat, initialise, initialize
Derived terms: autoformat, deformat, formattable, formatter, formatting, misformat, overformat, preformat, unformat, wildmat

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