format
UK /ˈfɔː(ɹ).mæt/ · US /ˈfɔːɹ.mæt/ noun, verb
Forms formats formatting formatted
- noun The layout of a publication or document.
- noun (by extension) The form of presentation of something.
- noun (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.”
- noun (computing) A file type.
- verb To create or edit the layout of a document.
- verb Change a document so it will fit onto a different type of page.
- verb (computing) 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 formatting data format data formatting arrange
Etymology
Via French format and German Format, from New Latin liber fōrmātus (“book fashioned”), from fōrmō (“to shape, fashion”).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “format”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details