forum

See also: förum, fórum, fórům, and Forum

English

Alternative forms

• 4m (Internet leet)
• 4rum (Internet leet)

Etymology

From Latin forum (“public market place, forum”). Doublet of fuero and door.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːɹəm/

  Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹəm/
• (Australia, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈfoːɹəm/
• Rhymes: -ɔːɹəm
• Hyphenation: fo‧rum

Noun

forum (plural forums or fora)

1. A place for discussion.
2. A gathering for the purpose of discussion; a symposium.
3. A form of discussion involving a panel of presenters and often participation by members of the audience.
5. (Internet) An Internet message board where users can post messages regarding one or more topics of discussion.

   Trish was an admin on three forums, and had no trouble at all when it came to moderating them.

7. (historical) A square or marketplace in a Roman town, used for public business and commerce.

Usage notes

The English plural forums is preferred to the Latin plural fora in everyday English usage.

• Ref: Modern English Usage, 2nd Edition, ed. Sir Ernest Gowers, Oxford 1968 (article '-um', p.658).
• Also, "The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style," by Bryan A. Garner. Berkley Books, 2000, (p. 156).

Derived terms

• choice of forum agreement
• choice of forum clause
• cyberforum
• e-forum
• forum clause
• forumgoer
• foruming
• forumite
• forumless
• forum non conveniens
• forum selection agreement
• forum selection clause
• forum shopping
• forum sliding
• forum weapon
• subforum
• teleforum

Related terms

• conforaneous (rare)
• forum conveniens

Descendants

(In the Internet senses):

• → Catalan: fòrum
• → Chechen: хӏорам (horam)
• → Dutch: forum
  • → Indonesian: forum
• → French: forum
• → German: Forum
• → Italian: forum
• → Japanese: フォーラム (fōramu)
• → Korean: 포럼 (poreom)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: forum
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: forum
• → Polish: forum
• → Portuguese: fórum
• → Romanian: for, forum
• → Russian: фо́рум (fórum)
  • → Kazakh: форум (foruwm)
• → Serbo-Croatian: forum
• → Spanish: foro
• → Swedish: forum
• → Turkish: forum

Translations

place for discussion

• Arabic: مُنْتَدَى (ar) m (muntadā)
• Armenian: ֆորում (hy) (forum)
• Belarusian: фо́рум m (fórum)
• Bulgarian: фо́рум m (fórum)
• Catalan: fòrum (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 論壇 / 论坛 (zh) (lùntán), 座談會 / 座谈会 (zh) (zuòtánhuì)

• Czech: fórum (cs) n
• Danish: forum n
• Esperanto: forumo
• Estonian: foorum
• Finnish: foorumi (fi)
• French: forum (fr) m
• Georgian: ფორუმი (porumi)
• German: Forum (de) n
• Hungarian: fórum (hu)
• Ido: forumo (io)
• Italian: foro (it) m
• Japanese: 論壇 (ja) (ろんだん, rondan), フォーラム (ja) (fōramu)
• Korean: 논단(論壇) (nondan), 론단(論壇) (rondan) (North Korea), 포럼 (poreom)
• Māori: marae ātea
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forum (no) n

• Polish: forum (pl) n
• Portuguese: fórum (pt) m
• Russian: фо́рум (ru) m (fórum)
• Spanish: foro (es) m, fórum m
• Swedish: forum (sv) n
• Tok Pisin: bungples
• Turkish: divan (tr), müzakere yeri, münteda
• Ukrainian: фо́рум (uk) m (fórum)
• Vietnamese: diễn đàn (vi)

gathering for the purpose of discussion

• Arabic: مُنْتَدَى (ar) m (muntadā)
• Catalan: fòrum (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 論壇 / 论坛 (zh) (lùntán), 座談會 / 座谈会 (zh) (zuòtánhuì)

• Czech: fórum (cs) n
• Esperanto: kunveno
• Finnish: keskustelutilaisuus
• French: forum (fr) m
• German: Forum (de) n
• Italian: forum (it) m
• Māori: wānanga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forum (no)

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: اَنْجُمَن (anjoman)

• Polish: forum (pl) n
• Portuguese: fórum (pt) m
• Russian: фо́рум (ru) m (fórum)
• Spanish: fórum m, foro (es) m, forum m
• Swedish: forum (sv) n
• Tok Pisin: bungples
• Turkish: forum (tr)
• Vietnamese: diễn đàn (vi)

form of discussion

• Arabic: مُنْتَدَى (ar) m (muntadā)
• Bulgarian: свобо́дна диску́сия f (svobódna diskúsija)
• Catalan: fòrum (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 座談會 / 座谈会 (zh) (zuòtánhuì), 論壇 / 论坛 (zh) (lùntán)

• Czech: fórum (cs) n
• Esperanto: forumo
• Estonian: foorum
• Finnish: paneelikeskustelu
• French: forum (fr) m
• German: Forum (de) n
• Italian: forum (it) m
• Japanese: 討論 (ja) (とうろん, tōron), 討論会 (ja) (とうろんかい, tōronkai)
• Korean: 토론(討論) (ko) (toron), 토론회(討論會) (ko) (toronhoe)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forum (no) n

• Polish: forum (pl) n
• Portuguese: fórum (pt) m
• Russian: фо́рум (ru) m (fórum)
• Swedish: forum (sv) n
• Turkish: forum (tr)
• Vietnamese: hội thảo (vi)

Internet message board

• Arabic: مُنْتَدَى (ar) m (muntadā)
• Armenian: ֆորում (hy) (forum)
• Belarusian: фо́рум m (fórum)
• Bulgarian: фо́рум m (fórum)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: fòrum (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 論壇 / 论坛 (zh) (lùntán), 討論板 / 讨论板 (tǎolùnbǎn)

• Czech: fórum (cs) n
• Dutch: forum (nl) n, internetforum (nl) n
• Esperanto: forumo
• Estonian: foorum
• Finnish: keskustelupalsta (fi)
• French: forum (fr) m
• Galician: foro (gl)
• Georgian: ფორუმი (porumi)
• German: Forum (de) n
• Greek: φόρουμ (el) (fóroum)
• Hindi: फ़ोरम m (foram)
• Ido: forumo (io)
• Italian: forum (it) m
• Japanese: フォーラム (ja) (fōramu), 伝言板 (ja) (でんごんばん, dengonban)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 포럼 (poreom), 전언판(傳言板) (jeoneonpan)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: форум m (forum)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forum (no) n

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: اَنْجُمَن (anjoman), تالارِ گُفْتُگو (tâlâr-e goftogu), فُروم (forom)

• Polish: forum (pl) n
• Portuguese: fórum (pt) m [de discussão]
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: фо́рум (ru) m (fórum)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фо́рум m

  Latin: fórum (sh) m

• Slovak: fórum (sk) m
• Slovene: forum (sl)
• Spanish: foro (es) m, fórum m, forum m
• Swedish: forum (sv) n
• Tagalog: pagtitipon
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tok Pisin: bungples
• Turkish: forum (tr)
• Ukrainian: фо́рум (uk) m (fórum)
• Vietnamese: diễn đàn (vi), 4rum (slang)

square or marketplace

• Catalan: fòrum (ca) m
• Estonian: foorum
• Finnish: tori (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἀγορά f (agorá)

• Latin: forum (la) n
• Māori: marae ātea
• Swedish: forum (sv) n
• Vietnamese: chợ (vi)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin forum. The sense “Internet forum” comes from English forum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfoː.rʏm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fo‧rum

Noun

forum n (plural fora or forums, diminutive forumpje n)

1. forum (ancient Roman marketplace)
2. forum (venue, medium, vehicle; general place of exchange)
3. Internet forum

   Synonym: internetforum

Usage notes

All senses can use the plural fora. The plural forums is predominantly used for the sense “Internet forum”.

Derived terms

• internetforum

Related terms

• foor

French

Etymology

• Most meanings: Learned borrowing from Latin forum.
• Internet: Borrowed from English forum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔ.ʁɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

forum m (plural forums)

1. forum
2. Internet forum

Further reading

• “forum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• fora (nonstandard)

Etymology

From Dutch forum, from Latin forum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈforum/
• Hyphenation: fo‧rum

Noun

forum

1. forum (a place for discussion)
2. institution, body

   Synonyms: lembaga, wadah

3. meeting, session, assembly

   Synonym: sidang

Further reading

• forum on the Indonesian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^id

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English forum, borrowed from Latin forum. Doublet of foro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.rum/
• Rhymes: -ɔrum
• Hyphenation: fò‧rum

Noun

forum m (invariable)

1. forum (gathering for the purposes of discussion)
2. (by extension, usually capitalized) venue, auditorium, arena
3. (Internet) forum (message board)

Further reading

• “forum”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwór-o-

Proto-Italic *θworom

Proto-Italic *fworom

Proto-Italic *forom

Latin forum

From Proto-Italic *forom, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwor-om (“enclosure, courtyard, i.e. something enclosed by the door, or the place outside, i.e. through the door”), from *dʰwer- (“door, gate”). According to Schrijver, the term must have lost the *-w- prior to the sound change *wo- > *wa- in an open syllable.

Cognate with foris, forās, Old Church Slavonic дворъ (dvorŭ, “court, courtyard”), Sanskrit द्वार (dvā́ra, “door, gate, passage”) and Lithuanian dvãras (“estate”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfɔ.rũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfɔː.rum]

Noun

forum n (genitive forī); second declension

1. public place, marketplace, forum

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	forum	fora
genitive	forī	forōrum
dative	forō	forīs
accusative	forum	fora
ablative	forō	forīs
vocative	forum	fora

Derived terms

• forensis
• forestis (possibly)
• forica

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: foro
  • Sicilian: foru
• Gallo-Romance:
  • French: for, fur
  • Old Catalan: for
    • Catalan: for, fur
  • Old Occitan: for, fur
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Leonese: foro, fuero
    • Asturian: fueru
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: foro
    • Galician: foro
    • Portuguese: foro
  • Old Spanish: fuero
    • Spanish: fuero

Borrowings (in the non-Internet senses outside of English):

• → Catalan: fòrum
• → Chechen: хӏорам (horam)
• → Dutch: forum
  • → Indonesian: forum
• → English: forum (see there for further descendants)
• → French: forum
• → German: Forum
• → Italian: forum
• → Korean: 포럼 (poreom)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: forum
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: forum
• → Polish: forum
• → Portuguese: fórum
• → Romanian: for, forum
• → Russian: фо́рум (fórum)
  • → Kazakh: форум (foruwm)
• → Serbo-Croatian: forum
• → Spanish: foro
• → Swedish: forum
• → Turkish: forum

Further reading

• “forum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “forum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "forum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “forum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) at home; in one's native country: domi (opp. foris)
    
  • (ambiguous) credit has disappeared: fides (de foro) sublata est (Leg. Agr. 2. 3. 8)
    
  • (ambiguous) to shun publicity: publico carere, forum ac lucem fugere
    
• “forum”, in The Perseus Project (1999), Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[2]
• “forum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “forum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

forum n (definite singular forumet, indefinite plural fora or forumer, definite plural foraene or foruma or forumene)

1. a forum (place for discussion, either on the Internet or in real life)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

forum n (definite singular forumet, indefinite plural forum, definite plural foruma)

1. a forum (as above)

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwór-o-

Proto-Italic *θworom

Proto-Italic *fworom

Proto-Italic *forom

Latin forumder.

Polish forum

Derived from Latin forum. Doublet of dwór (“court, courtyard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.rum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔrum
• Syllabification: fo‧rum

Noun

forum n

1. forum (all senses)

Declension

Declension of forum

	singular	plural
nominative	forum	fora
genitive	forum	forów
dative	forum	forom
accusative	forum	fora
instrumental	forum	forami
locative	forum	forach
vocative	forum	fora

Derived terms

adjectives

• forowy
• forumowy

nouns

• forowicz
• forumowicz

Further reading

• “forum”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “forum”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwór-o-

Proto-Italic *θworom

Proto-Italic *fworom

Proto-Italic *forom

Latin forumlbor.

Romanian forum

Learned borrowing from Latin forum.

Noun

forum n (plural forumuri)

1. forum

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	forum	forumul	forumuri	forumurile
genitive-dative	forum	forumului	forumuri	forumurilor
vocative	forumule		forumurilor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Latin forum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fǒːrum/
• Hyphenation: fo‧rum

Noun

fórum m inan (Cyrillic spelling фо́рум)

1. forum

Declension

Declension of forum

	singular	plural
nominative	forum	forumi
genitive	foruma	foruma
dative	forumu	forumima
accusative	forum	forume
vocative	forume	forumi
locative	forumu	forumima
instrumental	forumom	forumima

Derived terms

• fórumskī

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwór-o-

Proto-Italic *θworom

Proto-Italic *fworom

Proto-Italic *forom

Latin forumubor.

Spanish forum

Unadapted borrowing from Latin forum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfoɾum/ [ˈfo.ɾũm]
• Rhymes: -oɾum
• Syllabification: fo‧rum

Noun

forum m (plural forums)

1. alternative spelling of fórum

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “forum”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

Swedish

Noun

forum n

1. a forum (place, gathering, or group)
2. (Internet) a forum
3. (historical) a forum

Declension

Declension of forum

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	forum	forums
	definite	forumet	forumets
plural	indefinite	forum	forums
	definite	forumen	forumens

Declension of forum

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	forum	forums
	definite	forumet	forumets
plural	indefinite	fora	foras
	definite	fora	foras

References

• “forum”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “forum”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “forum”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Turkish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *dʰwór-o-

Proto-Italic *θworom

Proto-Italic *fworom

Proto-Italic *forom

Latin forumder.

Turkish forum

Derived from Latin forum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foˈɾum/

Noun

forum (definite accusative forumu, plural forumlar)

1. forum
2. Internet forum

Declension

Declension of forum

singular plural nominative forum forumlar definite accusative forumu forumları dative foruma forumlara locative forumda forumlarda ablative forumdan forumlardan genitive forumun forumların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular forumum forumlarım 2nd singular forumun forumların 3rd singular forumu forumları 1st plural forumumuz forumlarımız 2nd plural forumunuz forumlarınız 3rd plural forumları forumları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular forumumu forumlarımı 2nd singular forumunu forumlarını 3rd singular forumunu forumlarını 1st plural forumumuzu forumlarımızı 2nd plural forumunuzu forumlarınızı 3rd plural forumlarını forumlarını dative singular plural 1st singular forumuma forumlarıma 2nd singular forumuna forumlarına 3rd singular forumuna forumlarına 1st plural forumumuza forumlarımıza 2nd plural forumunuza forumlarınıza 3rd plural forumlarına forumlarına locative singular plural 1st singular forumumda forumlarımda 2nd singular forumunda forumlarında 3rd singular forumunda forumlarında 1st plural forumumuzda forumlarımızda 2nd plural forumunuzda forumlarınızda 3rd plural forumlarında forumlarında ablative singular plural 1st singular forumumdan forumlarımdan 2nd singular forumundan forumlarından 3rd singular forumundan forumlarından 1st plural forumumuzdan forumlarımızdan 2nd plural forumunuzdan forumlarınızdan 3rd plural forumlarından forumlarından genitive singular plural 1st singular forumumun forumlarımın 2nd singular forumunun forumlarının 3rd singular forumunun forumlarının 1st plural forumumuzun forumlarımızın 2nd plural forumunuzun forumlarınızın 3rd plural forumlarının forumlarının