formation

nouncommon in dialogue

United Kingdom//fɔːˈmeɪʃ(ə)n//
Canada//fɔɹˈmeɪʃ(ə)n//
Australia//foːˈmæɪʃ(ə)n//

The act of assembling a group or structure.

noun

1
The act of assembling a group or structure.
Some cloud formation was confirmed and rainfall was observed over some islands.
2
Something possessing structure or form.
3
The process during which something comes into being and gains its characteristics.
4
A grouping of military units or smaller formations under a command, such as a brigade, division, wing, etc.
5
A layer of rock of common origin.
Over a broad region, the color of a formation may change.
6
An arrangement of moving troops, ships, or aircraft, such as a wedge, line abreast, or echelon. Often "in formation".
7
An arrangement of players designed to facilitate certain plays.
N'Golo Kanté embodies both sides of this, a player whose early scratchiness was soothed with glorious results in the new 3-4-3 formation, allowed simply to be his best, most wonderfully mobile, diligent, destructive self.
8
The process of influencing or guiding a person to a deeper understanding of a particular vocation.
9
A structure made of two categories, two functors from the first to the second category, and a transformation from one of the functors to the other.

Etymology

From Middle English formacioun, formation, borrowed from Old French formacion, from Latin fōrmātiō, from fōrmō (“form”, verb); see form as verb. Morphologically form + -ation.

Forms

plural: formations

formally · In a formal manner.Forman · A surname originating as an occupation, a spelling variant of…format · The layout of a publication or document.

formation · The act of assembling a group or structure.

former · Previous.formerly · at some time in the past formidable · Causing fear, dread, awe, or discouragement as a result of…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.