conform

English

Etymology

From Middle English conformen, borrowed from Old French conformer, from Latin conformāre (“to mould, to shape after”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈfɔːm/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈfɔɹm/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)m
• Hyphenation: con‧form

Verb

conform (third-person singular simple present conforms, present participle conforming, simple past and past participle conformed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To adapt to something by more closely matching it, especially something normative.
   • c. 1710, “Vanbrugh's House”, in The Poems of Jonathan Swift, 1910 edition, Jonathan Swift:

     There is a worm by Phoebus bred,
     By leaves of mulberry is fed,
     Which unprovided where to dwell,
     Conforms itself to weave a cell.

   • 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, chapter 6, in Nature:

     The sensual man conforms thoughts to things; the poet conforms things to his thoughts.

   • 1961 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Salute to the "Claud Hamiltons" & "Directors"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 115:

     When Nos. 1870 to 1879 emerged, in 1902, the circular front windows of the cab had given place to much larger windows, conforming to the shape of the cab roof on top and the firebox top below, [...].

   1. (transitive, intransitive, often followed by to) To change to more closely match typical characteristics or behavior.
      • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Peveril of the Peak. , volume I, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 5–6:

        [H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith.

      • 1839, Robert FitzRoy, Phillip Parker King, Charles Darwin, chapter 4, in Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836, , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC:

        [B]y conforming to the dress and habits of the Gauchos, he has obtained an unbounded popularity in the country.

      • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 110:

        In any case, most of these sharks are gray or grayish, and they certainly are typical in that they conform to everyone's idea of what a shark is supposed to look like.

2. (intransitive, of things or procedures) To be as required or recommended by a specification, regulation, or policy.
   • 1919, Hildegard G. Frey, chapter 11, in The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit:

     In height and breadth it conformed to the prescribed measurements laid down by the rules of the contest.

   • 2006 December 22, “Judge Cuts Amount of Vioxx Award”, in New York Times, retrieved 7 June 2011:

     A judge in a Texas widow’s lawsuit over the Merck drug Vioxx reduced a $32 million jury award to about $7.75 million on Thursday so that it conformed to state law.

Synonyms

• (to act in accordance with expectations): acquiesce, comply, go along to get along, knuckle under, submit; see also Thesaurus:conform

Related terms

Translations

References

• “conform”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Dutch

Etymology

From French conforme.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Preposition

conform

1. (somewhat formal) in accordance with, according to

Derived terms

Related terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French conforme.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konˈform/

Preposition

conform (+dative)

1. according to

Related terms

• conforma