form
[fC:m]
n.
形状, 形态, 外形, 表格, 形式
v.
形成, 构成, 排列, (使)组成
form
form
AHD:[f?rm]
D.J.[f%8rm]
K.K.[f%rm]
n.（名词）
The shape and structure of an object.
形状：物体的样子和构造
The body or outward appearance of a person or an animal considered separately from the face or head; figure.
形体，身材：动物或人除脸或头外的身体或外貌；身材
The essence of something.
本质：某物的本质
The mode in which a thing exists, acts, or manifests itself; kind:
形式，种类：某物存在、运作、显现的方式；种类：
a form of animal life; a form of blackmail.
动物的生活方式；恐吓的方式
Procedure as determined or governed by regulation or custom.
步骤：由规则或习俗确定或支配的程序
A fixed order of words or procedures, as for use in a ceremony; a formula.
仪式：一种固定的次序或程序，用于仪式等
A document with blanks for the insertion of details or information:
表格：留有空格供填写具体情况或信息的文书：
insurance forms.
保险表格
Manners or conduct as governed by etiquette, decorum, or custom.
举止：由礼节、礼仪或习俗支配的举止或行为
Behavior according to a fixed or accepted standard:
行为：合乎固定或认可标准的行为：
Tardiness is considered bad form.
拖拉被认为是一种不良行为
Performance considered with regard to acknowledged criteria:
表现：以公认技术为评判标准的表现：
a good jump shooter having an unusual form.
表现与众不同的优秀跳投者
Proven ability to perform:
水平，状态：已知的表现能力：
a musician at the top of her form.
水平处于顶峰的音乐家
Fitness, as of an athlete or animal, with regard to health or training.
状态：与健康或训练有关的运动员或动物的竞技状态
The past performance of a racehorse.
赛马过去的表现
A racing form.
赛马成绩记录表
Method of arrangement or manner of coordinating elements in literary or musical composition or in organized discourse:
形式：有规则地将文字、乐章或推理要素排列起来的方式：
presented my ideas in outline form; a treatise in the form of a dialogue.
用提纲的形式表现我的想法；对话形式的论文
A particular type or example of such arrangement:
体裁：这种排列的特定类型或实例：
The essay is a literary form.
散文是一种文字体裁
The design, structure, or pattern of a work of art:
结构：一件艺术的设计、结构或模式：
symphonic form.
交响曲
A mold for the setting of concrete.
模板：浇注混凝土的模板
A model of the human figure or part of it used for displaying clothes.
人体模型：人体或部分人体支架模型，用于展示服装
A proportioned model that may be adjusted for fitting clothes.
可调整大小比例的模型：与人体相称的，常可调整的模型，以适用各种服装
A grade in a British secondary school or in some American private schools:
年级：指英国中学或美国一些私立学校中的年级：
the sixth form.
六年级
A linguistic form.
语型：一种语言学形式
The external aspect of words with regard to their inflections, pronunciation, or spelling:
字的形式变化：因词形、发音或拼写变化的一个词的不同形体之一：
verb forms.
动词词形
Chiefly British A long seat; a bench.
多用于英国 长椅子；长板凳
The resting place of a hare.
野兔的栖息地点
Botany A subdivision of a variety usually differing in one trivial characteristic, such as flower color.
植物学 分类：通常有细微特性区别的种属的再分，如花色的再分
v.（动词）
formed， form.ing， forms
v.tr.（及物动词）
To give form to; shape:
做成；成形：
form clay into figures.
将泥土捏成泥像
To develop in the mind; conceive:
想出：在脑海中形成；想象：
form an opinion.
形成想法
To shape or mold (dough, for example) into a particular form.
塑造：将（面团等）塑造或浇铸成一特殊形状
To arrange oneself in:
成形：让自己形成：
Holding out his arms, the cheerleader formed a T. The acrobats formed a pyramid.
啦啦队长伸出手臂做成T形；杂技演员们形成一座金字塔
To organize or arrange:
组织或安排：
The environmentalists formed their own party.
环境保护主义者组成了自己的团体
To fashion, train, or develop by instruction or precept:
造成，形成：通过指导或训导形成、训练或发展：
form a child's mind.
造就孩子的想法
To come to have; develop or acquire:
养成：养成；发展或获得：
form a habit.
养成习惯
To constitute or compose a usually basic element, part, or characteristic of.
构成：组成或作为…通常的基本要素、成分或特性
To produce (a tense, for example) by assuming an inflection:
形成：通过采用曲折变化构成（如时态）：
form the pluperfect.
构成过去完成时
To make (a word) by derivation or composition.
衍生：用派生法或复合法构（词）
To put in order; arrange.
排列；整理
v.intr.（不及物动词）
To become formed or shaped.
形成或成型
To come into being by taking form; arise.
出现：以显现某种形式的方式产生；出现
To assume a specified form, shape, or pattern.
具有特殊的形态：排成一定形式、形状或模式
Middle English forme
中古英语 forme
from Latin f?a
源自 拉丁语 f?a
form”abil“ity
n.（名词）
form“able
adj.（形容词）
form， figure， shape， configuration， contour， profile
These nouns refer to the external outline of a thing.
这些名词指的是一个物体的外部曲线。
Form is the outline and structure of a thing as opposed to its substance:
Form 是相对于一个物体本质而言的某物的外形和构造：
stalactites of curious forms;
形状奇异的钟乳石；
a garden in the form of a lovers' knot.
同心结状的花园。
Figure refers usually to form as established by bounding or enclosing lines:
Figure 常指按照限定或围起的线条成形：
The cube is a solid geometric figure.
立方体是一个牢固的几何图形。
“Europe is disclosed as a prone and emaciated figure, the Alps shaping like a backbone, and the branching mountain chains like ribs, the peninsular plateau of Spain forming a head” (Thomas Hardy).
“欧洲象一个前倾而憔悴的人，阿尔卑斯山脉象他的脊椎，支脉象肋骨，西班牙的半岛高原则形成头” （托马斯·哈代）。
Shape implies three-dimensional definition that indicates both outline and bulk or mass:
Shape 含有立体的概念，指轮廓和体积：
“Rowing [at night] , he faced her, a hooded and cloaked shape” (Joseph Conrad).
“划船时 ，他面对着她，一个戴头巾，斗篷的模样” （约瑟夫·康拉德）。
Configuration stresses the pattern formed by the arrangement of parts within an outline:
Configuration 强调在轮廓内将几部分排列起形成的模型：
The map shows the configuration of the North American continent, with its mountains, rivers, and plains.
地图描绘出北美大陆的地形以及它的山脉、河流和平原。
Contour refers especially to the outline of a three-dimensional figure:
Contour 尤指一个立体物的轮廓：
I ran my finger along the soft, curving contour of the child's cheek.
我抚摸着孩子柔和、轮廓深刻的面颊。
Profile denotes the outline of something viewed against a background and especially the outline of the human face in side view:
Profile 指在某背景之下显现出的轮廓，尤指人的侧面像：
We glimpsed the profile of the church steeple against the last glow of the sunset.
我们瞥见在最后的晚霞的衬托下的教堂尖顶。
The profile of the old warrior was characterized by a strong jaw and an aquiline nose.
老战士侧面像的特征是一个坚硬的下巴和一个鹰钩鼻。
form
来自拉丁词forma
form,figure,shape这三个名词的一般含义为“形状”或“外形”。
是个最普通、使用范围最广、含义最多的词，哲学上讲的“形态”，文艺上讲的“体裁”，雕刻艺术上讲的“形状”，以及普通含义的“方式”或“形式”等，它都可以表示。此外，form也可以表示人或动物的“体形”、“外形”
Convinced of the importance of education, modern states "invest"in institutions of learning to get back "interest"in the form of a large group of enlighted young men and women who are potential leaders.
现代国家由于确信教育的重要性， 才向教育机构“投资”，以期获得一大批有知识的男女青年的形式收回“利息”，这些青年是潜在的领导人。
Strange forms stand in gardens, and outside buildings and shops.
花园里、建筑物和商店外面竖立着奇形怪状的雕塑形体。
My friend fails to mention the long and friendless winter evenings which are interrupted only by an occasional visit to the local cinema——virtually the only form of entertainment.
我的朋友没提到那漫长而寂寞的隆冬寒夜，而打破这寒夜寂寞的只有偶尔去当地电影院看看电影——实际上此乃唯一的娱乐形式。
figure可以表示隐约可见的“人影”或“物影”、几何“图形”、人体“外形”、引人注目的人物或塑像等
In the torchlight he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recongnized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
在手电光下他看到一个人影，他立刻认出这个人是本地杂货商比尔·威尔金斯。
With mother earning and his elder children drawing substantial wages father is seldom the dominant figure that he still was at the beginning of the century.
由于母亲挣钱和大孩子也拿相当的工资，父亲很少再象本世纪初那样是一家之主了。
shape 也可以表示“外形”或“形状”以及人物体形。The bridge is so long that the shape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer. 桥身如此的长，以致于它的设计师不得不考虑地球的形状。
注：shape 的内涵是：外形之下具有实体。如上一例中shape之“形”包含有地球这个实体。再看下面的例句
Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began ariving at the factory.
不久，大大小小各种形状的饼干开始送到这个工厂。
…animal shapes ablaze with red and gold and blue,…
各种兽形神像闪耀着红色、金黄色、蓝色……，
And the senstive observer of sculpture must learn to feel shape simply as shape, not as description or reminiscence.
雕塑品的敏锐观赏家必须学会把形体当作形体去感觉，而不当作描述或联想去感觉。
这三个词的含义差异可以从它们表示的人体外形的差异上来进行辨析。form所指的“人体外形”在意义上很含糊，只是能够认出，但未必看得仔细或看得清楚。
What he saw seemed to have the form of a man.
他所看到的似乎是一个男子的身影。(之所以没看仔细，可能是观察者坐在窗口，那身影一晃而过。)
figure 在表示“人体外形”时通常因黑暗而看不清楚，即“人影”，在表示“体形”时与shape的差别在于：figure只强调身体的轮廓，shape既包括躯体轮廓也包含有血有肉的身体。由于form仅表示可以辨认出的人体外形，所以裁缝店里的服装模特儿被称为the dress-maker's form; 由于figure强调人体轮廓，所以“她的体形很优美”可以说：She has a very good figure:由于shape既包含轮廓又包含有血有肉的身体，所以“她的身段很好看，但她的女仆一点身段都没有。”可以说：She has a very good shape,but her maid has no shape at all. 基于上面的讨论琲n the form of…，in the figure of…,in the shape of 这三个短语虽然都表示“以……的形式(状)”，但第一个短语强调可以认出的形式(状)，第二个短语强调轮廓，第三个短语强调实体，如entertainment in the form of opera(以戏剧形式的娱乐)； to cut apiece of paper in the figure of a triangle(把纸剪成三角形)；to form a mass of clay in the shape of a man(把一堆粘土塑造成男人的形状)。in shape 表示的“在外形上”，用于具有实体的事物，而in form 表示的“在形式上”或“在外形上”用于抽象的、无实体的事物
That is perhaps why sculpture has been described as the most difficult of all arts;certainly it is more difficult than arts which involve appreciation of flat forms, shape in only two dimensions.
人们把雕塑说成是一切艺术中最困难的，可能就是这个道理。当然，它比起只涉及平面形态，即二维形态的艺术品要困难些。