deform

Etymology 1

PIE word *de From Middle English deforme (“out of shape, deformed”) [and other forms], from Middle French deforme (modern French difforme (“misshapen, deformed”)), or directly from its etymon Latin dēfōrmis (“departing physically from the correct shape, deformed, malformed, misshapen, ugly; (figuratively) departing morally from the correct quality, base, disgraceful, shameful, unbecoming”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; from’) + fōrma (“form, appearance, figure, shape; fine form, beauty; design, outline, plan; model, pattern; mould, stamp; (figuratively) kind, manner, sort”) (further etymology unknown; perhaps related to Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape; appearance; outline; kind, type”), probably from Pre-Greek, but there is no consensus) + -is (suffix forming adjectives of the third declension).

adj

1. (obsolete except poetic) Having an unusual and unattractive shape; deformed, misshapen; hence, hideous, ugly.

Etymology 2

From Middle English deformen (“to deform, disfigure, distort; to make ugly, mar; (figuratively) to disfigure morally; to defame; to dishonour”) [and other forms], from Old French deformer [and other forms] (modern French déformer (“to contort, distort, twist out of shape; (figuratively) to pervert”)), or directly from its etymon Latin dēfōrmāre (whence Medieval Latin difformāre), the present active infinitive of dēfōrmō (“to fashion, form; to delineate, describe; to design; to deform, disfigure; to mar, spoil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; from’) + fōrmō (“to fashion, form, shape; to format”) (from fōrma (noun); see further at etymology 1). cognates * Catalan deformar (“to deform”) * Italian deformare (“to deform; to distort, warp”) * Occitan deformar * Portuguese deformar (“to deform”) * Spanish deformar, desformar (“to deform, disfigure”)

verb

1. (transitive)
   1. To change the form of (something), usually thus making it disordered or irregular; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual shape.
      [Y]ou muſt take care to keep the Bitt ſtraight to the Hole you pierce, leſt you deform the Hole, or break the Bitt. 1678, Joseph Moxon, “Continued in the Art of Joynery”, in Mechanick Exercises: Or, The Doctrine of Handy-works.[…], 2nd edition, number II, London: […] J[oseph] Moxon,[…], published 1693, →OCLC, § 22 (Of the Piercer), page 90
      […] Joe’s thick thatch of curls had been deformed by his headgear into a kind of glossy black hat, […] 2000, Michael Chabon, chapter 2, in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay[…], New York, N.Y.: Random House, part 3, page 178
      1. (engineering, physics) To alter the shape of (something) by applying a force or stress.
   2. (also figurative) To change the look of (something), usually thus making it imperfect or unattractive; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual appearance.
      a face deformed by bitterness
      The [Native American] private men fought naked; their faces and bodies being deformed with paint, in order to terrify the enemy. 1774, Hen[ry] Home, “Sketch XII. Origin and Progress of American Nations.”, in Sketches of the History of Man.[…], volume II (Progress of Men in Society), Edinburgh: […] W[illiam] Creech,[…]; and for W[illiam] Strahan, and T[homas] Cadell,[…], →OCLC, page 89
      [Henri] Matisse at that time was at work at his first big decoration, Le Bonheur de Vivre. […] It was in this picture that Matisse first clearly realised his intention of deforming the drawing of the human body in order to harmonise and intensify the colour values of all the simple colours mixed only with white. 1933, Gertrude Stein, “Gertrude Stein in Paris: 1903–1907”, in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 49
   3. To mar the character or quality of (something).
      a marriage deformed by jealousy
2. (intransitive) To become changed in shape or misshapen.