forum
[fawr-uh m, fohr-uh m]
- the marketplace or public square of an ancient Roman city, the center of judicial and business affairs and a place of assembly for the people.
- a court or tribunal: the forum of public opinion.
- an assembly, meeting place, television program, etc., for the discussion of questions of public interest.
- Also called online forum, Internet forum, Web forum. message board.
- the Forum, the forum in the ancient city of Rome.
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Origin of forum
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin: marketplace, public place, akin to forīs, forās outside, foris door
message board
- a website or section of a website that is used for public discussion of a specific topic and on which users can submit or read messages: You should post your questions on a parenting message board and get support from other parents.
- an online discussion group that is maintained on such a website: To participate in the message board, you must be a registered user.
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Also called discussion board, forum.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
conferencesymposiumgatheringseminarconventionframeworkagencyvenuemechanismassemblyconclavecongressconvocationcongregationcolloquiumcouncilrallymediumapparatusmeansExamples from the Web for forum
Contemporary Examples
After his death, Jackson tried to speak up for her friend on a Facebook forum.
This is a forum for the voices defining the global struggle for justice.
Quorum: Global LGBT VoicesDecember 10, 2014
Chris Brown announced onstage at The Forum in Los Angeles on Friday night.
The Chris Brown vs. Drake Feud Continues: Brown Claims Ex GF Karrueche Tran Cheated with DrizzyMarlow Stern
December 7, 2014
There were a number of people who could have convened a forum of Charter 77, or meetings with other, smaller opposition groups.
These posts are still available in archives that are only viewable to privileged members of the forum.
Historical Examples
The three stones were set up to keep chariots out of the forum.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
It is the modern substitute for the forum of the old Roman town.
The Farmer and His CommunityDwight Sanderson
This forum of the people was shaded by a sextette of well-grown elms.
The StrollersFrederic S. Isham
Forum, the place of general assembly in a Roman city, as the Agora was in a Greek.
ArchitectureThomas Roger Smith
"Thou shalt burn in the Forum for this," spluttered the Judge.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
forum
- a meeting or assembly for the open discussion of subjects of public interest
- a medium for open discussion, such as a magazine
- a public meeting place for open discussion
- a court; tribunal
- (in South Africa) a pressure group of leaders or representatives, esp Black leaders or representatives
- (in ancient Italy) an open space, usually rectangular in shape, serving as a city's marketplace and centre of public business
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin: public place; related to Latin foris outside
Forum
Forum Romanum
- the Forum the main forum of ancient Rome, situated between the Capitoline and the Palatine Hills
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message board
- an internet discussion forum
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for forum
n.
mid-15c., "place of assembly in ancient Rome," from Latin forum "marketplace, open space, public place," apparently akin to foris, foras "out of doors, outside," from PIE root *dhwer- (see door). Sense of "assembly, place for public discussion" first recorded 1680s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper