• (RP) IPA: /kənˈfɔːm/
• (America) IPA: /kənˈfɔɹm/

conform (conforms, present participle conforming; past and past participle conformed)

1. (intransitive, of persons, often followed by to) To act in accordance with expectations; to behave in the manner of others, especially as a result of social pressure.
   • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Peveril of the Peak. [...] In Four Volumes, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., OCLC 2392685 ↗, pages 5–6 ↗:

     [H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith.

   • 1839, Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle, ch. 4:

     [B]y conforming to the dress and habits of the Gauchos, he has obtained an unbounded popularity in the country.

2. (intransitive, of things, situations, etc.) To be in accordance with a set of specifications or regulations, or with a policy or guideline.
   • 1919, Hildegard G. Frey, The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit, ch. 11:

     In height and breadth it conformed to the prescribed measurements laid down by the rules of the contest.

   • 2006 22 Dec., "Judge Cuts Amount of Vioxx Award ↗," New York Times (retrieved 7 June 2011):

     A judge in a Texas widow’s lawsuit over the Merck drug Vioxx reduced a $32 million jury award to about $7.75 million on Thursday so that it conformed to state law.

3. (transitive) To make similar in form or nature; to make suitable for a purpose; to adapt.
   • circa 1710 Jonathan Swift, "Vanbrugh's House" in The Poems of Jonathan Swift (1910 edition):

     There is a worm by Phoebus bred,

     By leaves of mulberry is fed,

     Which unprovided where to dwell,

     Conforms itself to weave a cell.

   • 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, ch. 6:

     The sensual man conforms thoughts to things; the poet conforms things to his thoughts.

• (to act in accordance with expectations) acquiesce, comply, go along to get along, knuckle under, submit; see also Thesaurus:conform

• conformance
• conformation
• conformer
• conformism
• conformist
• conformity

• French: s'aligner
• Russian: соотве́тствовать

• Portuguese: conformar-se, estar em conformidade com
• Russian: согласова́ться