formation

noun

1. an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit; “a defensive formation”; “a formation of planes”

   Less specific

   • arrangement

   More specific

   • flight, military formation, backfield, secondary, line, line, center, flank, wing, head, rear

2. the act of fabricating something in a particular shape

   Synonyms

   • shaping

   Less specific

   • fabrication, manufacture, manufacturing

   More specific

   • filing, forging, metalworking, metalwork, granulation, grooving, rifling, turning

3. the act of forming or establishing something; “the constitution of a PTA group last year”; “it was the establishment of his reputation”; “he still remembers the organization of the club”

   Synonyms

   • constitution, establishment, organization, organisation

   Less specific

   • beginning, start, commencement

   More specific

   • unionization, unionisation, collectivization, collectivisation, communization, communisation, federation, colonization, colonisation, settlement

4. (geology) the geological features of the earth

   Synonyms

   • geological formation

   Less specific

   • object, physical object

   More specific

   • aquifer, beach, cave, cliff, drop, drop-off, delta, diapir, folium, foreshore, ice mass, lakefront, massif, monocline, mouth (more) , natural depression, depression, natural elevation, elevation, oceanfront, range, mountain range, range of mountains, chain, mountain chain, chain of mountains, relict, ridge, ridgeline, ridge, shore, slope, incline, side, spring, fountain, outflow, outpouring, natural spring, talus, scree, vein, mineral vein, volcanic crater, crater, wall, water table, water level, groundwater level

5. a particular spatial arrangement

   Less specific

   • placement, arrangement

   More specific

   • raster, rig, rigging, split

6. natural process that causes something to form; “the formation of gas in the intestine”; “the formation of crystals”; “the formation of pseudopods”

   Less specific

   • natural process, natural action, action, activity

   More specific

   • incrustation, encrustation, reticulation

7. creation by mental activity; “the formation of sentences”; “the formation of memories”

   Less specific

   • creating by mental acts

   More specific

   • affixation