Deformation

How to spell deformation

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce deformation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does deformation mean?

1. nounA change in the shape or structure of something, often caused by force, pressure, or damage.

Deformation in a sentence

• The engineers measured the deformation of the steel beam under load.

• Heat caused a slight deformation in the plastic casing.

Where does deformation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb deformare, which combined the prefix de- in the sense of 'reversing' or 'spoiling' with forma, meaning 'shape' or 'figure'. The literal idea was to take something away from its proper shape, and the related Latin noun deformatio meant a marring or disfiguring. English picked the word up in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, partly through French, first in the general sense of distorting or spoiling an appearance. Over time, especially with the rise of physics and engineering, it gained the precise technical meaning of a measurable change in shape or size when a material is put under stress. The very same forma root sits inside everyday relatives like 'form', 'reform' and 'transform', and remembering that core 'form' helps keep the spelling steady through the unstressed middle.

How the word is built

• de- (reversal, undoing)
• form (shape, from Latin forma)
• -ation (noun of process or result)