formula English · revision 5121

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1618|origins=la formula}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈfɔː.mjə.lə/, US /ˈfɔːr.mjə.lə/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[la|fōrmula|t=form, rule, method]], literally “small form”, a diminutive of fōrma “form”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[form]] and [[formulate]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A set form of words used in a ceremony or ritual: 1618 in MWU, before 1638 in Barnhart, the 1630s in Etymonline.^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The OED has a set form of words defining or stating something from 1581, when it was still used as a Latin word.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A prescription or recipe is from 1706.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In mathematics, a rule expressed in symbols is from 1796,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and in chemistry, the symbols showing the constituents of a compound, from 1842 in Etymonline, 1846 in the OED and Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) Carlyle's French Revolution (1837) gave it the disparaging sense of a rule or custom followed slavishly.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A form of words reconciling different views is from 1905,^(OED 1989) and in motor racing, the class of a racing car, from 1927.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A baby's liquid food based on milk is a later sense.^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1618 – a ceremonial form of words.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1706 – a recipe.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1796 – in mathematics.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1837 – a rule slavishly followed.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1846 – in chemistry.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1927 – in motor racing.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A rule or relationship expressed in symbols.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A set of symbols showing the elements in a compound.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A method or plan for achieving something: ''a formula for success''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # A fixed form of words used in a ceremony or procedure.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A list of ingredients from which something is made.^(COED 2004)

+ # Liquid food for babies, made to replace breast [[milk]].^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[formulaic]]

+ * [[formulaically]]

+ * [[formulary]]

+ * [[formulate]]

+ * [[formulation]]

+ * [[formulize]]

+ * [[empirical formula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[form]]

+ * [[formulism]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}