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EN KO VI NE KM ID

form

fɔːrm

Forms, uniforms and information walk out of one mold

The picture One mold that decides the outside of whatever you pour in. Fill the mold and you get a form; give everyone the same mold and you get a uniform; swap the mold and the thing becomes something else. form is the mold that sets the shape; struct is the frame stacked up piece by piece.

Word roots

Where the picture shows up in form

  1. Paper with set boxes

    Please fill in this form first.

    pliːz fɪl ɪn ðɪs fɔːrm fɜːrst

    Please fill in this form first.

    Boxes already printed on a page, being filled in one at a time.

  2. One mold for everybody

    Everyone wears the same uniform here.

    ˈevriwʌn werz ðə seɪm ˈjuːnɪfɔːrm hɪr

    Everyone here wears the same uniform.

    A row of people dressed as if pressed out of the same mold.

    uni (one) + form (mold): only one mold to go around, so a uniform.

  3. Swapping the mold

    Heat transforms water into steam.

    hiːt trænsˈfɔːrmz ˈwɔːtər ˈɪntuː stiːm

    Heat turns water into steam.

    Water in a pot boiling and rising as steam — same stuff, new mold.

  4. A shape set inside your head

    I need more information about the job.

    aɪ niːd mɔːr ˌɪnfərˈmeɪʃən əˈbaʊt ðə dʒɑːb

    I'd like to know more about the job.

    Loose scraps of a story clicking into one shape inside your head.

    In-formation is a shape formed inside you — that is what information is.

  5. Dressed to the mold

    Is there a formal dress code?

    ɪz ðer ə ˈfɔːrməl dres koʊd

    Is there a dress code?

    Someone holding their clothes up against the dress chart by the door.

All of it in one picture

form is not the shape but the mold that sets it. Print boxes on a page and it is a form to fill; press everyone into one mold and it is a uniform; swap the mold and water rises as steam. Let loose scraps settle into one shape in your head and it is information; dress to the mold on the wall and it is formal. Wherever form turns up, something is being given an outside to hold it.

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