Form is the

shape A shape is a graphics, graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material ...

visual appearance The visual appearance of objects is given by the way in which they Reflection (physics), reflect and transmit light. The color of objects is determined by the parts of the spectrum of (incident white) light that are reflected or transmitted witho ...

, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form may also refer to: *

Form (document) A form is a document which contains blank spaces (also named ''fields'' or ''placeholders'') in which one can write or select an option. Forms can be distributed to several signatories at once, or made available on demand. Before being filled out, ...

, a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data *

Form (architecture) In architecture, form refers to a combination of external appearance, internal structure, and the Unity (aesthetics), unity of the design as a whole, an order created by the architect using #Space and mass, space and mass. External appearance Th ...

, a combination of external appearance, internal structure, and the unity of the design *

Form (education) A form is an educational stage, class, or grouping of pupils in a school. The term is used predominantly in the United Kingdom, although some schools, mostly private, in other countries also use the title. Pupils are usually grouped in forms acc ...

, a class, set, or group of students * Form (religion), an academic term for prescriptions or norms on religious practice *Form, a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass used by a

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

*Form, or rap sheet, slang for a

criminal record A criminal record (not to be confused with a police record or arrest record) is a record of a person's criminal Conviction, convictions history. The information included in a criminal record, and the existence of a criminal record, varies betwe ...

People

* Andrew Form, American film producer * Fluent Form, Australian rapper and hip hop musician

Arts, entertainment, and media

Form (arts organisation) Form is a Western Australian arts organisation that delivers programming tailored to specific communities throughout the state. It was known Craftwest until 2004. Organisation Form is a non-profit, membership-based, charity-registered arts organ ...

, a Western Australian arts organisation * Form (visual art), a three-dimensional geometrical figure; one of the seven elements of art * Poetic form, a set of structural rules and patterns to which a poem may adhere *

Musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...

, a generic type of composition or the structure of a particular piece * The Forms (band), an American indie rock band

Computing and technology

* Form (computer virus), the most common computer virus of the 1990s *

Form (HTML) A webform, web form or HTML form on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a Server (computing), server for processing. Forms can resemble form (document), paper or database forms because web users fill out the forms using checkbox, ...

, a document form used on a web page to, typically, submit user data to a server * Form (programming), a component-based representation of a GUI window *

FORM (symbolic manipulation system) FORM is a symbolic manipulation system. It reads text files containing definitions of mathematical expressions as well as statements that tell it how to manipulate these expressions. Its original author is Jos Vermaseren of NIKHEF, Nikhef, the Du ...

, a program for symbolic computations * Google Forms, cloud-based survey software * Oracle Forms, a Rapid Application Development environment for developing database applications * Windows Forms, the graphical API within the Microsoft .NET Framework for access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements * XForms, an XML format for the specification of user interfaces, specifically web forms * Form Energy, an American energy storage startup company. It is focused on utility-scale iron-air batteries.

Martial arts

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Kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practiced in Japanese martial arts ...

'' (型 or 形), the detailed pattern of defence-and-attack * Taeguk (Taekwondo) (형), the "forms" used to create a foundation for the teaching of Taekwondo *Taolu (套路), forms used in Chinese martial arts and sport wushu

Mathematics

* Algebraic form ( homogeneous polynomial), which generalises quadratic forms to degrees 3 and more, also known as ''quantics'' or simply ''forms'' *

Bilinear form In mathematics, a bilinear form is a bilinear map on a vector space (the elements of which are called '' vectors'') over a field ''K'' (the elements of which are called '' scalars''). In other words, a bilinear form is a function that is linea ...

, on a vector space ''V'' over a field ''F'' is a mapping ''V'' × ''V'' → ''F'' that is linear in both arguments *

Differential form In mathematics, differential forms provide a unified approach to define integrands over curves, surfaces, solids, and higher-dimensional manifolds. The modern notion of differential forms was pioneered by Élie Cartan. It has many applications ...

, a concept from differential topology that combines multilinear forms and smooth functions *

First-order reliability method The first-order reliability method, (FORM), is a semi- probabilistic reliability analysis method devised to evaluate the reliability of a system. The accuracy of the method can be improved by averaging over many samples, which is known as Line Sam ...

, a semi-probabilistic reliability analysis method devised to evaluate the reliability of a system * Indeterminate form, an algebraic expression that cannot be used to evaluate a limit *

Modular form In mathematics, a modular form is a holomorphic function on the complex upper half-plane, \mathcal, that roughly satisfies a functional equation with respect to the group action of the modular group and a growth condition. The theory of modul ...

, a (complex) analytic function on the upper half plane satisfying a certain kind of functional equation and growth condition *

Multilinear form In abstract algebra and multilinear algebra, a multilinear form on a vector space V over a field K is a map :f\colon V^k \to K that is separately K- linear in each of its k arguments. More generally, one can define multilinear forms on a mo ...

, which generalises bilinear forms to mappings ''V''^''N'' → ''F'' *

Quadratic form In mathematics, a quadratic form is a polynomial with terms all of degree two (" form" is another name for a homogeneous polynomial). For example, 4x^2 + 2xy - 3y^2 is a quadratic form in the variables and . The coefficients usually belong t ...

, a homogeneous polynomial of degree two in a number of variables

Philosophy

* Argument form, Logical form or Test form - replacing the different words, or sentences, that make up the argument with letters, along the lines of algebra; the letters represent logical variables * Intelligible form, a substantial form as it is apprehended by the intellect *

Substantial form Substantial form is a central philosophical concept in Aristotelianism Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by Prior Analytics, deductive logic and an Posterior Analytics, an ...

, asserts that ideas organize matter and make it intelligible *

Theory of forms The Theory of Forms or Theory of Ideas, also known as Platonic idealism or Platonic realism, is a philosophical theory credited to the Classical Greek philosopher Plato. A major concept in metaphysics, the theory suggests that the physical w ...

, asserts that ideas possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality * Value-form, an approach to understanding the origins of commodity trade and the formation of markets

Science

Form (botany) In botanical nomenclature, a ''form'' (''forma'', plural ''formae'') is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon. If more than three ranks are listed i ...

, a formal taxon at a rank lower than species *

Form (zoology) In zoology, the word "form" or "''forma''" (literally Latin for ''form'') is a strictly informal term that is sometimes used to describe organisms. Under the ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature'' the term has no standing (it is not ac ...

, informal taxa used sometimes in zoology *Form, object of study of Morphology * "-form", a term used in science to describe large groups, often used in taxonomy * Isoform, several different forms of the same protein

Sports

Form (exercise) :''See Kata for "form" in the context of martial arts.'' Form is a specific way of performing a movement, often a strength training Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve phys ...

, a proper way of performing an exercise * Form (horse racing), or racing form, a record of a racehorse's performance *

, a choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone

Other uses

* Form (cigarette), a Finnish cigarette brand * Form, a backless bench formerly used for seating in dining halls, school rooms and courtrooms * Form, the relation a word has to a

lexeme A lexeme () is a unit of lexical meaning that underlies a set of words that are related through inflection. It is a basic abstract unit of meaning, a unit of morphological analysis in linguistics that roughly corresponds to a set of forms ta ...

* Formwork, a mold used for concrete construction