Formal cause

Formal \Form"al\ (f[^o]rm"al), a. [L. formalis: cf. F. formel.]
   1. Belonging to the form, shape, frame, external appearance,
      or organization of a thing.
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   2. Belonging to the constitution of a thing, as distinguished
      from the matter composing it; having the power of making a
      thing what it is; constituent; essential; pertaining to or
      depending on the forms, so called, of the human intellect.
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            Of [the sounds represented by] letters, the material
            part is breath and voice; the formal is constituted
            by the motion and figure of the organs of speech.
                                                  --Holder.
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   3. Done in due form, or with solemnity; according to regular
      method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; as,
      he gave his formal consent.
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            His obscure funeral . . .
            No noble rite nor formal ostentation. --Shak.
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   4. Devoted to, or done in accordance with, forms or rules;
      punctilious; regular; orderly; methodical; of a prescribed
      form; exact; prim; stiff; ceremonious; as, a man formal in
      his dress, his gait, his conversation.
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            A cold-looking, formal garden, cut into angles and
            rhomboids.                            --W. Irwing.
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            She took off the formal cap that confined her hair.
                                                  --Hawthorne.
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   5. Having the form or appearance without the substance or
      essence; external; as, formal duty; formal worship; formal
      courtesy, etc.
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   6. Dependent in form; conventional.
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            Still in constraint your suffering sex remains,
            Or bound in formal or in real chains. --Pope.
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   7. Sound; normal. [Obs.]
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            To make of him a formal man again.    --Shak.
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   {Formal cause}. See under {Cause}.

   Syn: Precise; punctilious; stiff; starched; affected; ritual;
        ceremonial; external; outward.

   Usage: {Formal}, {Ceremonious}. When applied to things, these
          words usually denote a mere accordance with the rules
          of form or ceremony; as, to make a formal call; to
          take a ceremonious leave. When applied to a person or
          his manners, they are used in a bad sense; a person
          being called formal who shapes himself too much by
          some pattern or set form, and ceremonious when he lays
          too much stress on the conventional laws of social
          intercourse. Formal manners render a man stiff or
          ridiculous; a ceremonious carriage puts a stop to the
          ease and freedom of social intercourse.
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Cause \Cause\ (k[add]z), n. [F. cause, fr. L. causa. Cf.
   {Cause}, v., {Kickshaw}.]
   1. That which produces or effects a result; that from which
      anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist.
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            Cause is substance exerting its power into act, to
            make one thing begin to be.           --Locke.
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   2. That which is the occasion of an action or state; ground;
      reason; motive; as, cause for rejoicing.
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   3. Sake; interest; advantage. [Obs.]
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            I did it not for his cause.           --2 Cor. vii.
                                                  12.
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   4. (Law) A suit or action in court; any legal process by
      which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he
      regards as his right; case; ground of action.
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   5. Any subject of discussion or debate; matter; question;
      affair in general.
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            What counsel give you in this weighty cause! --Shak.
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   6. The side of a question, which is espoused, advocated, and
      upheld by a person or party; a principle which is
      advocated; that which a person or party seeks to attain.
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            God befriend us, as our cause is just. --Shak.
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            The part they take against me is from zeal to the
            cause.                                --Burke.
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   {Efficient cause}, the agent or force that produces a change
      or result.

   {Final cause}, the end, design, or object, for which anything
      is done.

   {Formal cause}, the elements of a conception which make the
      conception or the thing conceived to be what it is; or the
      idea viewed as a formative principle and cooperating with
      the matter.

   {Material cause}, that of which anything is made.

   {Proximate cause}. See under {Proximate}.

   {To make common cause with}, to join with in purposes and
      aims. --Macaulay.

   Syn: Origin; source; mainspring; motive; reason; incitement;
        inducement; purpose; object; suit; action.
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