a. [ L. formalis: cf. F. formel. ] 1. Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance, or organization of a thing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Belonging to the constitution of a thing, as distinguished from the matter composing it; having the power of making a thing what it is; constituent; essential; pertaining to or depending on the forms, so called, of the human intellect. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of [ the sounds represented by ] letters, the material part is breath and voice; the formal is constituted by the motion and figure of the organs of speech. Holder. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Done in due form, or with solemnity; according to regular method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; as, he gave his formal consent. [ 1913 Webster ]

His obscure funeral . . .
No noble rite nor formal ostentation. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Devoted to, or done in accordance with, forms or rules; punctilious; regular; orderly; methodical; of a prescribed form; exact; prim; stiff; ceremonious; as, a man formal in his dress, his gait, his conversation. [ 1913 Webster ]

A cold-looking, formal garden, cut into angles and rhomboids. W. Irwing. [ 1913 Webster ]

She took off the formal cap that confined her hair. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Having the form or appearance without the substance or essence; external; as, formal duty; formal worship; formal courtesy, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Dependent in form; conventional. [ 1913 Webster ]

Still in constraint your suffering sex remains,
Or bound in formal or in real chains. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Sound; normal. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To make of him a formal man again. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Formal cause. See under Cause.

Syn. -- Precise; punctilious; stiff; starched; affected; ritual; ceremonial; external; outward. -- Formal, Ceremonious. When applied to things, these words usually denote a mere accordance with the rules of form or ceremony; as, to make a formal call; to take a ceremonious leave. When applied to a person or his manners, they are used in a bad sense; a person being called formal who shapes himself too much by some pattern or set form, and ceremonious when he lays too much stress on the conventional laws of social intercourse. Formal manners render a man stiff or ridiculous; a ceremonious carriage puts a stop to the ease and freedom of social intercourse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. formic + alcohol. ] (Chem.) See Methylal.

n. [ Formic + aldehyde. ] (Chem.) A colorless, volatile liquid, H2CO, resembling acetic or ethyl aldehyde, and chemically intermediate between methyl alcohol and formic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Formic + aldehyde + -in. ] (Chem.) An aqueous solution of formaldehyde, used as a preservative in museums and as a disinfectant. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to, or dependence on, external forms, esp. in matters of religion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Official formalism. Sir H. Rawlinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. formaliste. ] One overattentive to forms, or too much confined to them; esp., one who rests in external religious forms, or observes strictly the outward forms of worship, without possessing the life and spirit of religion. [ 1913 Webster ]

As far a formalist from wisdom sits,
In judging eyes, as libertines from wits. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a set of procedures required to make a transaction official.
Syn. -- form, formality. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Formalities [ Cf. F. formalité. ] 1. The condition or quality of being formal, strictly ceremonious, precise, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Form without substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such [ books ] as are mere pieces of formality, so that if you look on them, you look though them. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Compliance with formal or conventional rules; ceremony; conventionality. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor was his attendance on divine offices a matter of formality and custom, but of conscience. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An established order; conventional rule of procedure; usual method; habitual mode. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was installed with all the usual formalities. C. Middleton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. The dress prescribed for any body of men, academical, municipal, or sacerdotal. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The doctors attending her in their formalities as far as Shotover. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. That which is formal; the formal part. [ 1913 Webster ]

It unties the inward knot of marriage, . . . while it aims to keep fast the outward formality. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The quality which makes a thing what it is; essence. [ 1913 Webster ]

The material part of the evil came from our father upon us, but the formality of it, the sting and the curse, is only by ourselves. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The formality of the vow lies in the promise made to God. Bp. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Scholastic. Philos.) The manner in which a thing is conceived or constituted by an act of human thinking; the result of such an act; as, animality and rationality are formalities. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To affect formality. [ Obs. ] ales. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Formalized p. pr. & vb. n. Formalizing ] 1. To give form, or a certain form, to; to model. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To render formal. [ 1913 Webster ]