formulaic

Etymology

It is formed from English formula + -ic.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The base is from Latin formula (“form, draft, contract, rule”), literally "small form", a diminutive of forma (“form”);^[2][3] compare French formule.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the nature of a formula: Etymonline dates the adjective to 1845.^[2] The OED's first record is much later, in Cassell's Encyclopædic Dictionary of 1884,^[3] Dictionary.com gives 1880–85,^[6] and the Shorter Oxford the late 19th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word depends on the senses of its base, which entered English in the 1630s for words used in a ceremony or ritual, and which Carlyle used in 1837 for a rule slavishly followed without understanding.^[2] The OED's entry, from 1897 and not fully revised, says only "of the nature of a formula".^[3] The Oxford Dictionary of English (2010) separates two uses: of language, containing a set form of words, and of things in general, produced by following a rule or style mechanically, as in pop music.^[7] Wiktionary likewise glosses it as following a predictable pattern, or conventional.^[1] The adverb formulaically is recorded from the mid-20th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1845 – of the nature of a formula.^[2] The OED's first record is from 1884.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Consisting of or containing a set form of words: The letter opened with a formulaic greeting to the shareholders.^[7][4][1]
2. Produced by following a fixed rule or style mechanically; predictable, conventional: a formulaic crime novel.^[7][1]
3. Of the nature of, or constituting, a formula.^[3][4][5]

Word family

• formulaically

Related words

• formula
• form
• formulate
• formulary

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press