Webster's English Dictionary

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formation

for.ma.tion \fo.r-'ma--sh*n\ \-shn*l, -sh*n-*l\ n 1: an act of giving form 
   or shape to something or of taking form : DEV ELOPMENT 2: something that is 
   formed  3: the manner in which a thing is formed : STRUCTURE  4: the 
   largest unit in an ecological community comprising two or more assoc 
   iations and their precursors 5: any sedimentary bed or consecutive series 
   of beds sufficiently homogeneo us or distinctive to be a unit 6: an 
   arrangement of a body or group of persons in some prescribed manner o r for 
   a particular purpose - for.ma.tion.al aj