formationformation

Formation comes from Latin fōrmātiō ‘the act of shaping, forming or fashioning’, and goes back to fōrma ‘form’.

1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfōrma¹‘form’
2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfōrmō²‘to shape’
3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfōrmātiō²‘the act of shaping’
4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400formacion²
5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500formacioun²
6. Englishearliest quotation 2012formation²

1. ¹ Wiktionary, Latin formo
2. ² Wiktionary, English formation
3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2012, Chinle Miller: “Over a broad region, the color of a formation…”.