formula
nounUK /ˈfɔː.mjʊ.lə/ · CA, US /ˈfɔɹ.mjə.lə/
Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin fōrmula (“a small pattern or mold, form, rule, principle, method, formula”), diminutive of forma (“a form”). See form.
8 senses
- 1Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically.
- 2A symbolic expression of the structure of a compound.
- 3A plan or method for dealing with a problem or for…
- 4A formulation; a prescription; a mixture or solution…
- 5A fixed phrase or set of words intended to be…
- 6A formal statement of doctrine.
- 7Ellipsis of infant formula, drink given to babies to…
- 8A syntactic expression of a proposition, built up from…
Mathematics, Sciences Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically.
- x=(-b±√)/(2a) is a formula for finding the roots of the quadratic equation ax² + bx + c = 0.
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A symbolic expression of the structure of a compound.
- H₂O is the formula for water.
A plan or method for dealing with a problem or for achieving a result.
- The company's winning formula includes excellent service and quality products.
- Shakespeare has gone back to the formula of last season, by encouraging his players to press high up the pitch and restoring Shinji Okazaki to the starting XI to scurry around between midfield and attack.2017 March 14, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian:
1 more example
- Delays, large and small, have a huge variety of causes, so there is no magic formula for preventing them.2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 42:
A formulation; a prescription; a mixture or solution made in a prescribed manner; the identity and quantities of ingredients of such a mixture.
- The formula of the rocket fuel has not been revealed.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A fixed phrase or set of words intended to be interpreted non-literally, typically used attitudinally or as part of convention; a formulation.
- Avoid the typical epistolic formalae, such as "Kind regards".
Lifestyle, Religion Especially A formal statement of doctrine.
- The extract from the Missal of Constance, which was printed before the editio princeps […] does not contain the formulae for Advent, Sundays after Epiphany, Lent and the Sundays after Easter and Pentecost; […]2004, Thomas Fisch, editor, Primary Readings on the Eucharist, Liturgical Press, →ISBN, footnote, page 34:
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of infant formula, drink given to babies to substitute for mother's milk.
- They tried switching formulas, and it seemed to work: the baby seemed more content while feeding.
- Many women advocate for formula, insisting that women who advocate breast-feeding have become self-righteous “lactavists,” as one writer puts it.2018, Kristin Lawless, Formerly known as food, →ISBN:
Human sciences, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Sciences A syntactic expression of a proposition, built up from quantifiers, logical connectives, variables, relation and operation symbols, and, depending on the type of logic, possibly other operators such as modal, temporal, deontic or epistemic ones.
- Derived terms
84 terms
Abel-Plana formula, Abel's formula, Abel's summation formula, atomic formula, baby formula, Bailey-Borwein-Plouffe formula, Balmer formula, Barcan formula, Bazin's formula, BBP formula, Bellard's formula, Bethe formula, Buridan formula, Chézy formula, Christoffel-Darboux formula, closed formula, condensed formula, cosine formula, counterformula, d'Alembert's formula, Darboux's formula, de Moivre's formula, dental formula, distance formula, empirical formula, epic formula, Euler-Maclaurin formula, Euler's continued fraction formula, Euler's polyhedron formula, Faà di Bruno's formula, floral formula, formula architecture, formula investing, formula investor, Formula One, formula plan, formula racing, formulary, formulate, formulation, formula unit, formulist, formulize, Fortran, Frank-Tamm formula, Gauss's area formula, general formula, Hadjicostas's formula, Jensen's formula, Kekulé formula, Kekule formula, Kingman's formula, Klein-Nishina formula, Lagrange's interpolation formula, Larmor formula, Liouville's formula, Machin-like formula, Machin's formula, Manning formula, molecular formula, multiformula, Newton-Cotes formula, offering formula, Perron's formula, Pollaczek-Khinchine formula, prime formula, quadratic formula, Rand formula, Rydberg formula, shoelace formula, sine formula, skeletal formula, stereoformula, structural formula, subformula, superformula, surveyor's formula, Sylvester's formula, trinitarian formula, Trinitarian formula, Tupper's self-referential formula, Vieta's formula, Voronoi formula, well-formed formula