for•mat(fôr′mat),USA pronunciationn., v.,-mat•ted, -mat•ting. n.
the shape and size of a book as determined by the number of times the original sheet has been folded to form the leaves. Cf. duodecimo, folio (def. 2), octavo, quarto.
the general physical appearance of a book, magazine, or newspaper, such as the typeface, binding, quality of paper, margins, etc.
the organization, plan, style, or type of something:The format of the show allowed for topical and controversial gags.
Computingthe 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.
v.t.
Radio and Televisionto plan or provide a format for:to format the annual telethon.
Computing
to set the format of (input or output):Some word-processing programs format output in a variety of ways.
to prepare (a disk) for writing and reading.
v.i.
to devise a format.
Latin (liber) fōrmātus (a book) formed (in a certain way)
the general appearance of a publication, including type style, paper, binding, etc
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 alsoduodecimo, quarto
style, plan, or arrangement, as of a television programme
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
the arrangement of text on printed output or a display screen, or a coded description of such an arrangement
(-mats, -matting, -matted)(transitive)
to arrange (a book, page, etc) into a specified format
Etymology: 19th Century: via French from German, from Latin liber formātus volume formed
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