To comply with rules, standards, or laws; to behave according to socially acceptable conventions; to be similar in form or type.
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Latin14th centurywell-attested
From OldFrench 'conformer' (to shape together, to bring into agreement), from Latin 'cōnfōrmāre' (to form together, to shape alike, to fashion according to a pattern), from 'con-' (together, with) + 'fōrmāre' (to form, to shape), from 'fōrma' (form, shape, mold). ThePIE background of 'fōrma' is debated — it may connect to a Mediterranean substrate word for a mold or template. The Latin 'fōrmāre' generated a large English
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In Englishreligioushistory, 'conformist' and 'nonconformist' were legal categories, not merely descriptions of personality. After theAct of Uniformity (1662), those who conformed to the Church of England were 'conformists'; those who refused were 'nonconformists.' The samelawcreated
of orators shaping arguments to fit audience expectations. The social sense — adjusting one's behaviour to match others' expectations — emerges in Late Latin and flowers in 16th-century English, reflecting Reformation-era debates about religious and civil conformity. The negative connotation of mindless conformity is largely modern; earlier uses were neutral or positive, meaning simply to align with an established pattern. Key roots: con- (Latin: "together, with"), fōrmāre (Latin: "to form, to shape"), fōrma (Latin: "form, shape").