FORMATION • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Formation

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/fɔrmˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Formation n.

The act of giving form or shape to anything; a forming; a shaping.

The manner in which a thing is formed; structure; construction; conformation; form; as, the peculiar formation of the heart.

A substance formed or deposited.

(Geol.)

(a)

Mineral deposits and rock masses designated with reference to their origin; as, the siliceous formation about geysers; alluvial formations; marine formations.

(b)

A group of beds of the same age or period; as, the Eocene formation.

(Mil.) The arrangement of a body of troops, as in a square, column, etc.

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Etymology of 'Formation'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Formation" Quotes from Famous Books

... passed—thousands of years rolled by: then came real fishes and land plants in what is called the Devonian period, or the old red sandstone. After a great while came the period to which belongs all the coal formation; and in that carboniferous epoch first appears a whole vegetable world of trees and plants, to the number of nine hundred and thirty-four species. Some insects arrived at this time, as beetles, crickets, and cockroaches, which are, therefore, ...

— Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors • James Freeman Clarke

... key, and to think all manner of intervals and rhythmic forms. It is altogether mental, and it is no less absurd to hold that a knowledge of anatomy is necessary to this than it is essential to the solution of a mathematical problem. The formation of tone quality is no less a mental process than is thinking the pitch. If the student sings a wrong pitch it is because he has thought a wrong pitch, and this is true to a large extent at least, if his tone quality in not good. He may at least be sure of this, that he never will sing a better tone ...

— The Head Voice and Other Problems - Practical Talks on Singing • D. A. Clippinger

... not mimic or mock any mountains or rivers, or any prominent formation of the earth, for it is the habitation of some deity or spirit of the earth, and thy life shall be continually in hazard if thou shouldst provoke the anger ...

— History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan • Andrew J. Blackbird

... proportion to the amount of damages claimed; any party doubting the justice of his sentence to have the right of appeal to me. And you, my daughter, take your seat by the side of the Dread Goddesses [Footnote: See Erinnyes in Notes.], cast lots for the order of the trials, and superintend the formation ...

— Works, V3 • Lucian of Samosata

... light. It was not raining. The air was raw and full of white mist that was cold as snow against their faces still warm from sleep. The corporal called the roll, lighting matches to read the list. When he dismissed the formation the sergeant's voice was heard from the tent, where he still lay rolled ...

— Three Soldiers • John Dos Passos

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