Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Formality

For-mal′i-ty

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Formalities
(#)
.
[Cf. F.
formalité
.]
1.
The condition or quality of being formal, strictly ceremonious, precise, etc.
2.
Form without substance.
Such [books] as are mere pieces of
formality
, so that if you look on them, you look though them.
Fuller.
3.
Compliance with formal or conventional rules; ceremony; conventionality.
Nor was his attendance on divine offices a matter of
formality
and custom, but of conscience.
Atterbury.
4.
An established order; conventional rule of procedure; usual method; habitual mode.
He was installed with all the usual
formalities
.
C. Middleton.
5.
pl.
The dress prescribed for any body of men, academical, municipal, or sacerdotal.
[Obs.]
The doctors attending her in their
formalities
as far as Shotover.
Fuller.
6.
That which is formal; the formal part.
It unties the inward knot of marriage, . . . while it aims to keep fast the outward
formality
.
Milton.
7.
The quality which makes a thing what it is; essence.
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.
The
formality
of the vow lies in the promise made to God.
Bp. Stillingfleet.
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
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Formality

FORMAL'ITY

, n.
1.
The practice or observance of forms.
Formalities of extraordinary zeal and piety are never more studied and elaborate then in desperate designs.
2.
Ceremony; mere conformity to customary modes.
Nor was his attendance on divine offices a matter of formality and custom, but of conscience.
3.
Established order; rule of proceeding; mode; method; as the formalities of judicial process; formalities of law.
4.
Order; decorum to be observed; customary mode of behavior.
5.
Customary mode of dress; habit; robe.
6.
External appearance.
7.
Essence; the quality which constitutes a thing what it is.
The formality of the vow lies in the promise made to God.
8.
In the schools, the manner in which a thing is conceived; or a manner in an object, importing a relation to the understanding, by which it may be distinguished from another object. Thus animality and rationality are formalities.

Definition 2024


formality

formality

English

Noun

formality (countable and uncountable, plural formalities)

  1. (uncountable) The state of being formal.
  2. Something said or done as a matter of form.
  3. A customary ritual without new or unique meaning.
  4. (countable) A specific requirement for obtaining a legal status, conducting a transaction, etc.

Translations

External links

  • formality in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • formality in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911