the forum

noun, plural fo·rums, fo·ra

[fawr-uh, fohr-uh] .

the marketplace or public square of an ancient Roman city, the center of judicial and business affairs and a place of assembly for the people.

a court or tribunal: the forum of public opinion.

an assembly, meeting place, television program, etc., for the discussion of questions of public interest.

the Forum, the forum in the ancient city of Rome.

Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin: marketplace, public place, akin to forīs, forās outside, foris door

Can be confused: form, forum (see synonym study at form).

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To the forum

00:10

The forum is always a great word to know.

So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

forum (ˈfɔːrəm)

—n , pl -rums, -ra
1.	a meeting or assembly for the open discussion of subjects of public interest
2.	a medium for open discussion, such as a magazine
3.	a public meeting place for open discussion
4.	a court; tribunal
5.	(in South Africa) a pressure group of leaders or representatives, esp Black leaders or representatives
6.	(in ancient Italy) an open space, usually rectangular in shape, serving as a city's marketplace and centre of public business

[C15: from Latin: public place; related to Latin foris outside]

Forum or Forum Romanum (rəʊˈmɑːnəm)

—n
	the Forum the main forum of ancient Rome, situated between the Capitoline and the Palatine Hills

Forum Romanum or Forum Romanum

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

forum

1460, "place of assembly in ancient Rome," from L. forum "marketplace" apparently akin to foris, foras "out of doors, outside." Sense of "assembly, place for public discussion" first recorded 1690.

Slang Dictionary

forum

n. [Usenet, GEnie, CI$; pl. `fora' or `forums'] Any discussion group accessible through a dial-in BBS, a mailing list, or a newsgroup (see the network). A forum functions much like a bulletin board; users submit postings for all to read and discussion ensues. Contrast real-time chat via talk mode or point-to-point personal email.

topic group

n. Syn. {forum}.

Jargon
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Matching Quote

"Unfortunately, nearly all the "sights" in America fall under the head of conditions. Hollywood, Reno, the sharecroppers' homes in the South, the mining towns of Pennsylvania, Coney Island, the Chicago stockyards, Macy's, the Dodgers, Harlem, even Congress, the forum of our liberties, are spectacles rather than sights, to use the term in the colloquial sense of "Didn't he make a holy spectacle of himself?" An Englishman of almost any political opinion can show a visitor through the Houses of Parliament with a sense of pride or at least of indulgence toward his national foibles and traditions. The American, if he has a spark of national feeling, will be humiliated by the very prospect of a foreigner's visit to Congress—these, for the most part, illiterate hacks whose fancy vests are spotted with gravy, and whose speeches, hypocritical, unctuous and slovenly, are spotted also with the gravy of political patronage, these persons are a reflection on the democratic process rather than of it; they expose it in its underwear."

-Mary McCarthy

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