Formal

[fawr-muh l] /ˈfɔr məl/

adjective
1.
being in accordance with the usual requirements, customs, etc.; conventional:
to pay one’s formal respects.
2.
marked by form or ceremony:
a formal occasion.
3.
designed for wear or use at occasions or events marked by elaborate ceremony or prescribed social observance:
The formal attire included tuxedos and full-length gowns.
4.
requiring a type of dress suitable for such occasions:
a formal dance.
5.
observant of conventional requirements of behavior, procedure, etc., as persons; ceremonious.
6.
excessively ceremonious:
a manner that was formal and austere.
7.
being a matter of form only; perfunctory:
We expected more than just formal courtesy.
8.
made or done in accordance with procedures that ensure validity:
a formal authorization.
9.
of, relating to, or emphasizing the organization or composition of the constituent elements in a work of art perceived separately from its subject matter:
a formal approach to painting; the formal structure of a poem.
10.
being in accordance with prescribed or customary forms:
a formal siege.
11.
Theater. (of a stage setting) generalized and simplified in design, especially of architectural elements, and serving as a permanent set for a play irrespective of changes in location.
12.
acquired in school; academic:
He had little formal training in economics.
13.
symmetrical or highly organized:
a formal garden.
14.
of, reflecting, or noting a usage of language in which syntax, pronunciation, etc., adhere to traditional standards of correctness and usage is characterized by the absence of casual, contracted, and colloquial forms:
The paper was written in formal English.
15.
Philosophy.

16.
Logic. .
17.
pertaining to the form, shape, or mode of a thing, especially as distinguished from the substance:
formal writing, bereft of all personality.
18.
being such merely in appearance or name; nominal:
a formal head of the government having no actual powers.
19.
Mathematics.

noun
20.
a dance, ball, or other social occasion that requires .
21.
an evening gown.
adverb
22.
in formal attire:
We’re supposed to go formal.
[fawr-mal] /ˈfɔr mæl/
noun, Chemistry.
1.
.
/ˈfɔːməl/
adjective
1.
of, according to, or following established or prescribed forms, conventions, etc: a formal document
2.
characterized by observation of conventional forms of ceremony, behaviour, dress, etc: a formal dinner
3.
methodical, precise, or stiff
4.
suitable for occasions organized according to conventional ceremony: formal dress
5.
denoting or characterized by idiom, vocabulary, etc, used by educated speakers and writers of a language
6.
acquired by study in academic institutions: a formal education
7.
regular or symmetrical in form: a formal garden
8.
of or relating to the appearance, form, etc, of something as distinguished from its substance
9.
logically deductive: formal proof
10.
(philosophy)

11.
denoting a second-person pronoun in some languages used when the addressee is a stranger, social superior, etc: in French the pronoun “vous” is formal, while “tu” is informal
/ˈfɔːmæl/
noun
1.
another name for methylal
adj.

late 14c., from Old French formel (13c.) and directly from Latin formalis, from forma (see form (n.)). As a noun, c.1600 (plural) “things that are formal;” as a short way to say formal dance, recorded by 1906, U.S. college students.

1. FORmula MAnipulation Language.
An early Fortran extension for symbolic mathematics.
[“FORMAL, A Formula Manipulation Language”, C.K. Mesztenyi, Computer Note CN-1, CS Dept, U Maryland (Jan 1971)].
2. A data manipulation language for nonprogrammers from IBM LASC.
[“FORMAL: A Forms-Oriented and Visual-Directed Application System”, N.C. Shu, IEEE Computer 18(8):38-49 (1985)].
(1994-12-06)