format

The layout of a publication or document.

Noun

  1. 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:
  2. The form of presentation of something.
  3. 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.
  4. A file type.

Origin

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

Forms

formats

Derived

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

Verb

  1. To create or edit the layout of a document.
  2. Change a document so it will fit onto a different type of page.
  3. 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.

Forms

formats formatting formatted

Synonyms

reformat initialise initialize

Derived

autoformat deformat formattable formatter formatting misformat overformat preformat unformat wildmat