Hypertext Webster Gateway: "formation"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Formation \For*ma"tion\, n. [L. formatio: cf. F. formation.]
1. The act of giving form or shape to anything; a forming; a
shaping. --Beattie.
2. The manner in which a thing is formed; structure;
construction; conformation; form; as, the peculiar
formation of the heart.
3. A substance formed or deposited.
4. (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.
5. (Mil.) The arrangement of a body of troops, as in a
square, column, etc. --Farrow.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
formation
n 1: an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit; "a
defensive formation"; "a formation of planes"
2: a particular arrangement
3: the fabrication of something in a particular shape [syn: {shaping}]
4: the act of forming something; "the constitution of a PTA
group"; "he still remembers the establishment of the
hospital" [syn: {constitution}, {establishment}, {organization},
{organisation}]
5: the geological features of the earth [syn: {geological
formation}, {geology}]
6: natural process that causes something to form; "the
formation of gas in the intestine"; "the formation of
crystals"; "the formation of pseudopods"
7: creation by mental activity; "the formation of sentences";
"the formation of memories"
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