forum
- 1An online message board where users post messages on one or more topics and reply to one another.
The software's official forum is full of threads about bug fixes.
Moderators removed several posts from the forum after a heated argument.
UsageUsually on a forum: post on a forum, read something on a forum.
Similarboard
Note
The word's newest home, with its own vocabulary of roles. Users post and reply, while admins and moderators keep order: someone can be an admin on three forums and moderate them all. Forum posts stay up and can be answered later, gathered into threads under topics. Forums typically support discussion over time; live chat emphasizes conversation in real time.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Administrators can also moderate forums; the three-forum example is hypothetical. en.wikipedia.org
- Forum posts are organized into discussion threads. en.wikipedia.org
- Users can reply to forum posts later. en.wikipedia.org
- Chat services can also retain messages. Forums typically support discussion over time, while live chat emphasizes simultaneous conversation; persistence alone does not distinguish them. slack.com
- 2A place where people gather to discuss ideas, share views, or air concerns.
The letters page has long served as a forum for local debate.
Town halls and other public forums give citizens a way to weigh in on policy.
UsageA forum for debate or ideas. The plural is usually forums; fora is also correct.
- 3An organized meeting or event where people, often a panel with an audience, discuss a particular subject.
Researchers from across the country attended a forum on climate policy.
The annual forum brought together leaders to debate economic reform.
UsageA forum on a subject: a forum on climate policy.
Similarconference, symposium, seminar, meeting
- 4In a Roman town, the public square or marketplace where commerce and public business were conducted.
Senators crossed the forum on their way to the assembly.
A temple stood at the northern edge of the forum, overlooking the crowds.
Similarsquare, marketplace
Note
Here English returns to the Latin original, where forum meant a public marketplace. Every later sense of a place or meeting for open debate descends from it. In this use the word is historical and belongs to Roman towns, so a modern plaza is not a forum in this sense.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English forum comes from Latin forum, meaning a public marketplace. en.wiktionary.org
- The discussion and meeting senses developed from the marketplace sense. languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
- The Roman civic square is distinct from a modern plaza. en.wikipedia.org
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of forum apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
Latin used forum for a public marketplace, and English took the word from Latin. Fuero and door are doublets of it.