Part 4514

<p><b>4.</b> <def>To provide with a form, as a hare. See <er>Form</er>, <tt>n.</tt>, 9.</def>

<blockquote>The melancholy hare is <b>formed</b> in brakes and briers. <i>Drayton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>5.</b> <fld>(Gram.)</fld> <def>To derive by grammatical rules, as by adding the proper suffixes and affixes.</def>

<h1>Form</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>Form</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To take a form, definite shape, or arrangement; <as>as, the infantry should <ex>form</ex> in column</as>.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To run to a form, as a hare.</def>

<i>B. Jonson.</i>

<cs><col>To form on</col> <fld>(Mil.)</fld>, <cd>to form a lengthened line with reference to (any given object) as a basis.</cd></cs>

<h1>Formal</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>For"mal</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>formalis</ets>: cf. F. <ets>formel</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance, or organization of a thing.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>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 oe depending on the forms, so called of the human intellect.</def>

<blockquote>Of [the sounds represented by] letters, the material part is breath and voice; the <b>formal</b> is constituted by the motion and figure of the organs of speech. <i>Holder.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Done is due form, or with solemnity; according to regular method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; <as>as, he gave his <ex>formal</ex> consent</as>.</def>

<blockquote>His obscure funeral . . . No noble rite nor <b>formal</b> ostentation. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Devoted to, or done in accordance with, forms or rules; punctilious; regular; orderly; methodical; of a prescribed form; exact; prim; stiff; ceremonious; <as>as, a man <ex>formal</ex> in his dress, his gait, his conversation</as>.</def>

<blockquote>A cold-looking, <b>formal</b> garden, cut into angles and rhomboids. <i>W. Irwing.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>She took off the <b>formal</b> cap that confined her hair. <i>Hawthorne.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Having the form or appearance without the substance or essence; external; <as>as, <ex>formal</ex> duty; <ex>formal</ex> worship; <ex>formal</ex> courtesy, etc.</as></def>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>Dependent in form; conventional.</def>

<blockquote>Still in constraint your suffering sex remains, Or bound in <b>formal</b> or in real chains. <i>Pope.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>7.</b> <def>Sound; normal.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>To make of him a <b>formal</b> man again. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<cs><col>Formal cause</col>. <cd>See under <er>Cause</er>.</cd></cs>

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

<h1>Formaldehyde</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>For*mal"de*hyde</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[<ets>Form</ets>ic + <ets>aldehyde</ets>.]</ety> <fld>(Chem.)</fld> <def>A colorless, volatile liquid, <chform>H2CO</chform>, resembling acetic or ethyl aldehyde, and chemically intermediate between methyl alcohol and formic acid.</def>

<h1>Formalism</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>Form"al*ism</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>The practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to, or dependence on, external forms, esp. in matters of religion.</def>