Format

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈfɔː(ɹ).mæt/
• US IPA: /ˈfɔːɹ.mæt/

Origin

Via French and German, from New Latin liber fōrmātus ("book fashioned"), from fōrmō ("I shape, fashion").

Full definition of format

Noun

1. The layout of a document.
2. (hence) The form of presentation of something.The radio station changed the format of its evening program.
3. (computing) A file type.

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. (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

• (change a document to fit onto different type of page) reformat
• (computing: prepare storage medium) initialise, initialize

Derived terms

• formatting