Conform Meaning
/kənˈfɔːm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo adapt to something by more closely matching it, especially something normative.
verbTo adapt to something by more closely matching it, especially something normative., To change to more closely match typical characteristics or behavior.
Sentence Examples
You should conform to the rules.
You must conform to the rules.
We should conform to the customs of society.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Employees must ____ to the company's strict dress code during work hours.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
All students must strictly ____ to the dress code rules set forth by the school administration.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English conformen, borrowed from Middle French and Anglo-Norman conformer, from Latin conformāre (“to mould, to shape after”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There is a worm by Phoebus bred,
By leaves of mulberry is fed,
Which unprovided where to dwell,
Conforms itself to weave a cell."
— c. 1710, “Vanbrugh's House”, in The Poems of Jonathan Swift, 1910 edition, Jonathan Swift:
"The sensual man conforms thoughts to things; the poet conforms things to his thoughts."
— 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, chapter 6, in Nature:
"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, [...]."
— 1961 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Salute to the "Claud Hamiltons" & "Directors"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 115:
"[H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith."
— 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:
"[B]y conforming to the dress and habits of the Gauchos, he has obtained an unbounded popularity in the country."
— 1839, Robert FitzRoy, Phillip Parker King, Charles Darwin, chapter IV, in Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
Employees must ____ to the company's strict dress code during work hours.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
All students must strictly ____ to the dress code rules set forth by the school administration.