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The term formal has a number of uses, including:

Contents 1 General 2 Social 3 Philosophical 4 Mathematics 4.1 Language 5 Computer Science 6 Linguistic 7 Chemical

[edit] General

• relating to formality
• opposite of informal

[edit] Social

• Formal occasion
  • Formal attire worn on such occasions
  • Formals are paticular meals at some British Universities
  • In Australian or British English, a "formal" is the equivalent of the American prom dance.
  • 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
  • Informal attire (not to be confused with Casual -- see Dress code (Western))

[edit] Philosophical

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

[edit] Mathematics

• formal power series generalization of power series without convergence.
• formal calculation calculation which is systematic, but without a rigorous justification
• formal set theory as opposed to naive set theory
• formal derivative operation on elements of a polynomial ring which mimics the form of the derivative from calculus.

[edit] Language

• formal system abstract means of generating inferences in a formal language
  • formal language symolic "words" or "sentences" of a formal system
    • formal grammar describes a formal language

[edit] Computer Science

• formal methods in computer science, including:
  • formal specification describes what a system should do, not how it should do it
  • formal verification proves correctness of a system

See also the Language section of Mathematics, above

[edit] Linguistic

• Formal Equivalence word-for-word translation (especially of the Bible)

See also the Language section of Mathematics, above

[edit] Chemical

• short or prefix form for formalin
• short or prefix form for formaldehyde
• synonym for dimethoxymethane