deform
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deform¹
- /dɪˈfɔːm/ UK
- /dəˈfɔɹm/ US
Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)m
Where it comes from
From Middle English deforme (“out of shape, deformed”) [and other forms], from Middle French deforme (modern French difforme (“misshapen, deformed”)), or directly from its etymon Latin dēfōrmis (“departing physically from the correct shape, deformed, malformed, misshapen, ugly; (figuratively) departing morally from the correct quality, base, disgraceful, shameful, unbecoming”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; from’) + fōrma (“form, appearance, figure, shape; fine form, beauty; design, outline, plan; model, pattern; mould, stamp; (figuratively) kind, manner, sort”) (further etymology unknown; perhaps related to Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape; appearance; outline; kind, type”), probably from Pre-Greek, but there is no consensus) + -is (suffix forming adjectives of the third declension).
adjective more deform · most deform
- Having an unusual and unattractive shape; deformed, misshapen; hence, hideous, ugly. […] I did proclame, / That vvho ſo kild that monſter moſt deforme, / And him in hardy battayle ouercame, / Should haue mine onely daughter to his Dame, and of my kingdome heyre apparaunt bee: […]
deform²
- /dɪˈfɔːm/ UK
- /dəˈfɔɹm/ US
Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)m
Where it comes from
From Middle English deformen (“to disfigure, distort, or mar; (figuratively) to disfigure morally; to defame; to dishonour”) [and other forms], equivalent to de- + form, from Old French deformer [and other forms] (modern French déformer (“to contort, distort, twist out of shape; (figuratively) to pervert”)), or directly from its etymon Latin dēfōrmāre (whence Medieval Latin difformāre), the present active infinitive of dēfōrmō (“to fashion, form; to delineate, describe; to design; to deform, disfigure; to mar, spoil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; from’) + fōrmō (“to fashion, form, shape; to format”) (from fōrma (noun); see further at etymology 1).
Cognates
* Catalan deformar (“to deform”)
* Italian deformare (“to deform; to distort, warp”)
* Occitan deformar
* Portuguese deformar (“to deform”)
* Spanish deformar, desformar (“to deform, disfigure”)
verb deforms · deforming · deformed
- To change the form of (something), usually thus making it disordered or irregular; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual shape. I that am curtaild of this faire proportion / Cheated of feature by diſſembling nature, / Deformd, vnfinisht, ſent before my time / Into this breathing vvorld ſcarce halfe made vp, / And that ſo lamely and vnfaſhionable, / That dogs barke at me as I halt by them: […]
- To alter the shape of (something) by applying a force or stress.
- To change the look of (something), usually thus making it imperfect or unattractive; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual appearance. a face deformed by bitterness
- To mar the character or quality of (something). a marriage deformed by jealousy
- To become changed in shape or misshapen. If I answer that metal’s hard and shiny and cold to the touch and deforms without breaking under blows from a harder material, [David] Hume says those are all sights and sounds and touch. There’s no substance. Tell me what metal is apart from these sensations. Then, of course, I’m stuck.
