Part 4515

<blockquote>Official <b>formalism</b>. <i>Sir H. Rawlinson.</u>

<h1>Formalist</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>Form"al*ist</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>formaliste</ets>.]</ety> <def>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.</def>

<blockquote>As far a <b>formalist</b> from wisdom sits, In judging eyes, as libertines from wits. <i>Young.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Formality</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>For*mal"i*ty</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt>; <plu>pl. <plw>Formalities</plw> <tt>(#)</tt></plu>. <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>formalit\'82</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The condition or quality of being formal, strictly ceremonious, precise, etc.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Form without substance.</def>

<blockquote>Such [books] as are mere pieces of <b>formality</b>, so that if you look on them, you look though them. <i>Fuller.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Compliance with formal or conventional rules; ceremony; conventionality.</def>

<blockquote>Nor was his attendance on divine offices a matter of <b>formality</b> and custom, but of conscience. <i>Atterbury.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>An established order; conventional rule of procedure; usual method; habitual mode.</def>

<blockquote>He was installed with all the usual <b>formalities</b>. <i>C. Middleton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>5.</b> <pluf>pl.</pluf> <def>The dress prescribed for any body of men, academical, municipal, or sacerdotal.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>The doctors attending her in their <b>formalities</b> as far as Shotover. <i>Fuller.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>That which is formal; the formal part.</def>

<blockquote>It unties the inward knot of marriage, . . . while it aims to keep fast the outward <b>formality</b>. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>7.</b> <def>The quality which makes a thing what it is; essence.</def>

<blockquote>The material part of the evil came from our father upon us, but the <b>formality</b> of it, the sting and the curse, is only by ourselves. <i>Jer. Taylor.</i>

<blockquote>The <b>formality</b> of the vow lies in the promise made to God. <i>Bp. Stillingfleet.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>8.</b> <fld>(Scholastic. Philos.)</fld> <def>The manner in which a thing is conceived or constituted by an act of human thinking; the result of such an act; <as>as, animality and rationality are <ex>formalities</ex></as>.</def>

<h1>Formalize</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>Form"al*ize</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p. p.</tt> <er>Formalized</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Formalizing</er> <tt>(?)</tt>.]</wordforms> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To give form, or a certain form, to; to model.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To render formal.</def>

<h1>Formalize</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>Form"al*ize</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <def>To affect formality.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>ales.</i>

<h1>Formally</h1> <Xpage=587>

<hw>Form"al*ly</hw>, <tt>adv.</tt> <def>In a formal manner; essentially; characteristically; expressly; regularly; ceremoniously; precisely.</def>