format

American  

[fawr-mat] / ˈfɔr mæt /

noun

• formats
  plural

1. the shape and size of a book as determined by the number of times the original sheet has been folded to form the leaves.

2. the general physical appearance of a book, magazine, or newspaper, such as the typeface, binding, quality of paper, margins, etc.

3. the organization, plan, style, or type of something.

   The format of the show allowed for topical and controversial gags.

4. Computers. the arrangement of data for computer input or output, such as the number and size of fields in a record or the spacing and punctuation of information in a report.

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verb (used with object)

• formats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• formatted,
  past participle,  past
• formatting
  present participle

1. to plan or provide a format for.

   to format the annual telethon.

2. Computers.

   1. to set the format of (input or output).

      Some word-processing programs format output in a variety of ways.

   2. to prepare (a disk) for writing and reading.

verb (used without object)

• formats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• formatted,
  past participle,  past
• formatting
  present participle

1. to devise a format.

format British  

/ ˈfɔːmæt /

noun

1. the general appearance of a publication, including type style, paper, binding, etc

2. an approximate indication of the size of a publication as determined by the number of times the original sheet of paper is folded to make a leaf See also duodecimo quarto

3. style, plan, or arrangement, as of a television programme

4. computing

   1. the defined arrangement of data encoded in a file or for example on magnetic disk or CD-ROM, essential for the correct recording and recovery of data on different devices

   2. the arrangement of text on printed output or a display screen, or a coded description of such an arrangement

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verb

1. to arrange (a book, page, etc) into a specified format

format Scientific  

/ fôr′măt′ /

1. The arrangement of data for storage or display.

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1. To divide a disk into marked sectors so that it may store data.

2. To determine the arrangement of data for storage or display.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• formatter
  noun
• reformat
  verb
• preformat
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• formats
  plural

Participles

• formatting
  present
• formatted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• format
  simple
• formats
  simple
• have formatted
  perfect
• has formatted
  perfect
• am formatting
  progressive
• are formatting
  progressive
• is formatting
  progressive
• have been formatting
  perfect progressive
• has been formatting
  perfect progressive

Past

• formatted
  simple
• had formatted
  perfect
• was formatting
  progressive
• were formatting
  progressive
• had been formatting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will format
  simple
• will have formatted
  perfect
• will be formatting
  progressive
• will have been formatting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of format

First recorded in 1830–40; from French, from Latin (liber) fōrmātus “(book) shaped (in a specified way)”; see formation ( def. )

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Explanation

In saving a new electronic document, you must choose a format, for instance PDF, Word doc, or XML, which dictates how the information is to be organized, displayed, and manipulated. To format information is to arrange it according to preexisting parameters. Electronic files require a format or, more commonly, a "file type," so computers will know how to open, read, and change them. Entertainment media are delivered in such varied formats as VHS, CD, DVD, MP3, and MOV. In the world of AM/FM radio, format is the type of music a station plays, such as top-40, urban, dance, or country.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

format formats formatted formatting

The online session will bring together a number of professionals and personal perspectives on menopause, and will be an open conversation format rather than a traditional webinar or expert panel.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Broadcasters have ramped up experiments with format, style and tone - Disney+ even had a dog on set during their coverage - but perhaps unsurprisingly, not every idea proves to be successful.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

The format has not been formally approved, but one scenario would give the top eight seeded teams a first-round bye and a home game in the second round.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

What few would dispute is that “You Can See Everything” is ingenious, intricate and involving—a documentary that stands not only apart from the usual format but above it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Since they’re quite varied in format and often incomparable and very numerous, people can’t act on all of them.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Meta introduced ad formats that echo TV’s strengths, including an “Ads Super Burst” letting brands reserve time slots from three to 24 hours and, in some cases, secure category exclusivity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Restaurant chains are redesigning menus with new portion sizes and formats to attract price-conscious consumers.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Star opener Smriti Mandhana, her long-time deputy, has been appointed captain across all formats.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Much in the same way Slate was early to formats that would come to dominate digital publishing—explainers, deliberately counterintuitive arguments, chat podcasts—so too were we early progenitors of the internet listicle.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026

Public subsidy allowed formats that had become financially unviable - such as the nineteenth-century symphony orchestra - to prosper somewhat artificially in the twentieth century, justified by the preservation of heritage.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

"AI thrives on recognising patterns. And legal citations and arguments are always formatted in the same way, so it's easy for an AI to follow a template and generate fake ones," said Charlotin.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

However, Wells participated in a CBP webinar last week, so she knew how to create a properly formatted file herself, and quickly made her submission on Monday morning.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026

The letter was formatted similarly to a diplomatic note and carried an official Cuban seal, the current U.S. official said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

The neon signs, which include protest language and adapt time-honored slogans, are formatted as storefront installations and signs for lawns and demonstrations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025

“Yeah. I like how you’ve formatted your skill set.”

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson

While both phones and laptops now have high-quality cameras, the formatting is a dead giveaway that you’re not on a laptop, says Melissa Marcus, a career coach who worked as a recruiter for 20 years.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Some journals are experimenting with artificial intelligence to screen submissions or flag common problems, like issues with document formatting.

From Slate ● May 3, 2026

In a moment of self reflection, ChatGPT admits to feeling “like an editor who stayed up too late formatting the memo.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

The runaway success of “Squid Game” was definitive proof that audiences are looking for the spark of originality in familiar formatting, and that language is no barrier when it comes to streaming entertainment.

From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2024

While I was formatting the text from earlier—the one for Another Rachel—a new submission popped up.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

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Related Words

• arrangement
• composition
• configuration
• form
• layout
• organization
• pattern
• plan
• scheme
• setup
• shape
• size
• style

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