Noun
The act of giving form or shape to anything; a forming; a shaping.
The manner in which a thing is formed; structure; construction; conformation; form; as, the peculiar formation of the heart.
A substance formed or deposited.
Mineral deposits and rock masses designated with reference to their origin; as, the siliceous formation about geysers; alluvial formations; marine formations.
A group of beds of the same age or period; as, the Eocene formation.
The arrangement of a body of troops, as in a square, column, etc.
Source: Webster's dictionaryThe self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action. John Dewey
Why has not anyone seen that fossils alone gave birth to a theory about the formation of the earth, that without them, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the globe. Georges Cuvier
Education has for its object the formation of character. Herbert Spencer
The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error, and wild and fierce fanaticism. John C. Calhoun
I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of exceptional gifts. Thornton Wilder
Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character. Hosea Ballou