Conformities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Acts or states of matching established rules, standards, or norms in behavior or form
2. Instances where something complies with required or expected patterns, especially in society or specifications
3. The quality or condition of being in agreement with laws, customs, or prescribed characteristics

Etymology: "Conformities" is simply the plural of "conformity", so it names several separate instances of conforming rather than a distinct word. The base is "conform", which came into English from Old French "conformer", from Latin "conformare", meaning to shape or fashion something in a particular form. The suffix "-ity" comes from Latin "-itas" through French and marks a state or quality, so "conformity" is a state of being shaped to match. "Conformity" itself arrived in English through Middle French "conformité" and was first recorded in Middle English as "conformyte". Its sense of matching a pattern or standard, especially in society, developed from that basic idea of giving something the same form as another thing. The plural form turns the abstract state into countable cases, as in "the conformities required by the specification."

Synonyms: compliance, adherence

Antonyms: deviation, departure