For"mal (fôr"mal), n. [L.
formic + alcohol.] (Chem.) See
Methylal.
Form"al (fôrm"al), a. [L.
formalis: cf. F. formel.] 1.
Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance, or
organization of a thing.
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.
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.
3. Done in due form, or with solemnity;
according to regular method; not incidental, sudden or irregular;
express; as, he gave his formal consent.
His obscure funeral . . .
No noble rite nor formal ostentation.
Shak.
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.
A cold-looking, formal garden, cut into angles
and rhomboids.
W. Irwing.
She took off the formal cap that confined her
hair.
Hawthorne.
5. Having the form or appearance without the
substance or essence; external; as, formal duty; formal
worship; formal courtesy, etc.
6. Dependent in form; conventional.
Still in constraint your suffering sex remains,
Or bound in formal or in real chains.
Pope.
7. Sound; normal. [Obs.]
To make of him a formal man again.
Shak.
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.
