forum

[fawr-uhm]

noun

plural

forums, fora 

1. 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.

2. a court or tribunal.

   the forum of public opinion.

3. an assembly, meeting place, television program, etc., for the discussion of questions of public interest.

4. Also called online forum,. Also called internet forum,. Also called web forum. message board.

5. the Forum, the forum in the ancient city of Rome.

forum

¹

/ ˈfɔːrəm /

noun

1. a meeting or assembly for the open discussion of subjects of public interest

2. a medium for open discussion, such as a magazine

3. a public meeting place for open discussion

4. a court; tribunal

5. (in South Africa) a pressure group of leaders or representatives, esp Black leaders or representatives

6. (in ancient Italy) an open space, usually rectangular in shape, serving as a city's marketplace and centre of public business

Forum

²

/ rəʊˈmɑːnəm /

noun

1. the main forum of ancient Rome, situated between the Capitoline and the Palatine Hills

Word History and Origins

Origin of forum¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin: “marketplace, public place,” akin to forīs, forās “outside,” foris door

Word History and Origins

Origin of forum¹

C15: from Latin: public place; related to Latin foris outside

Example Sentences

“The reality is the business has not performed and we needed to recognize that aspect,” Niccol said in an internal company forum Tuesday, a recording of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Former state Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon, in his first gubernatorial forum since entering the race in late September, leaned into his experience as the first millennial elected to the state Legislature.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Imgur is used by millions to make and share images such as memes across the web, particularly on Reddit and in online forums.

Read more on BBC

A simple mis-click from one member of a top-secret online dog fighting forum exposed the brutal reality of today's dog fighting.

Read more on BBC

Then, later that night, the president shared an AI-generated video promising fake alien health care technology from a conspiracy theory popular in QAnon forums.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• conference 
• convention 
• gathering 
• seminar 
• symposium 

When To Use

Plural word for forum

The plural form of forum can be either forums or fora. Forums is more widely used. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -um are formed in this way, including gum/gums, possum/possums, or geranium/geraniums. Irregular plurals that are formed like fora, such as curriculum/curricula and memorandum/memoranda, derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin. However, the standard English plural -s ending is often also acceptable for these terms, as in curriculums and memorandums.