ENGLISH
REFERENCE

format

n. C / U
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈfɔɹˌmæt// UK //fˈɔːmæt// for·mat Academic General-service

n. the way something is arranged or organized. You use this to talk about how a document looks or how a digital file is saved.

n. the general arrangement, organization, or layout of something; in computing, the specific structure or file type used for data storage.


SIMPLE

Please save the document in a PDF format.

CONTEXTUAL

The teacher asked the students to change the format of their essays to include wider margins.

COMPLEX

While the content of the presentation was excellent, the inconsistent format of the slides made it difficult for the audience to follow the data trends.

Synonyms
Origin

Via French format and German Format, from New Latin liber fōrmātus (“book fashioned”), from fōrmō (“to shape, fashion”).

Usage

Often used with 'in' when referring to digital files or 'of' when referring to physical layouts.

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