form-function
|form-func-tion|
🇺🇸
/fɔrm-ˈfʌŋkʃən/
🇬🇧
/fɔːm-ˈfʌŋkʃən/
shape vs. purpose (relationship)
Etymology
'form-function' is a modern English compound combining 'form' and 'function'. 'Form' ultimately comes from Latin 'forma' meaning 'shape', and 'function' ultimately comes from Latin 'functio' (from 'fungi') meaning 'to perform or execute'.
'form' entered English via Old French 'forme' from Latin 'forma'; 'function' entered English via Medieval Latin 'functio' and Old French/Latin influences, becoming English 'function' in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. The hyphenated compound 'form-function' arose in modern academic and design discourse (19th–20th centuries) to denote their relationship.
Initially, 'form' meant 'shape' and 'function' meant 'performance or execution'; combined as a phrase the focus shifted to the relationship between shape and use/purpose, used especially as an explicit design or biological principle.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the relationship between the shape or structure of something (form) and its purpose or activity (function).
The course examined the form-function relationship in animal limbs.
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Noun 2
a design principle or perspective emphasizing how function should determine form (or how form relates to intended use). Often invoked in architecture, engineering, biology, and design.
Modernist architects often cited the form-function idea when simplifying building shapes.
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Last updated: 2026/01/06 23:52