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(), n.; pl. Formalities (). [Cf. F. formalit.] 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 ev スポンサード リンク
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