FORMAL

The term 'formal' has a number of uses, including:

Contents

General

Social

Philosophical

Mathematics

Logic and Language

Computer science

Linguistic

Chemical

See also

General

★ relating to formality

★ opposite of informal

Social

★ Formal occasion

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★ Formal attire worn on such occasions

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★ Formals are particular meals at some British universities

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★ In Australian or British English, a '"formal"' is the equivalent of the American prom dance.

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★ In American English, a '"formal"' is organized by a college or university organization, typically but not always a fraternity or sorority.

★ Informal occasion (included as Informal redirect here); see Dress code (Western) for the distinctions between Formal, Semi-formal, and Informal

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★ Informal attire (not to be confused with Casual -- see Dress code (Western))

Philosophical

★ relating to form, i.e. appearance rather than essence.

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★ relating to Formalism, i.e. emphasis on form over content or meaning.

★ formal logic logical argument based only on the form and not on the meaning.

★ Formal cause, Aristotle's intrinsic, determining cause.

Mathematics

★ formal power series, a generalization of power series without requiring convergence, used in combinatorics;

★ formal calculation, a calculation which is systematic, but without a rigorous justification;

★ formal set theory as opposed to naive set theory;

★ formal derivative, an operation on elements of a polynomial ring which mimics the form of the derivative from calculus.

Logic and Language

★ formal system, an abstract means of generating inferences in a formal language;

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★ formal language, comprising the symbolic "words" or "sentences" of a formal system;

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★ formal grammar, a grammar describing a formal language;

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★ formal proof, a fully rigorous proof as is possible only in a formal system.

Computer science

★ formal methods in computer science, including:

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★ formal specification describes what a system should do, not how it should do it

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★ formal verification proves correctness of a system
See also the Language section of Mathematics, above

Linguistic

★ Formal equivalence word-for-word translation (especially of the Bible)
See also the Language section of Mathematics, above

Chemical

★ A unit of concentration

★ short or prefix form for formalin

★ short or prefix form for formaldehyde

★ synonym for dimethoxymethane

See also

★ Informal economy