formality

From Middle French formalité. equivalent to formal +‎ -ity.

• IPA^(key): /fɔːrˈmælɪti/

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• Rhymes: -ælɪti

formality (countable and uncountable, plural formalities)

1. (uncountable) The state of being formal.
   • 1874, Georg August Schweinfurth, chapter I, in Ellen E. Frewer, transl., The Heart of Africa: Three Years' Travels and Adventures in the Unexplored Regions of Central Africa, from 1868 to 1871‎^[1], second edition, volume I, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, And Searle, translation of Im Herzen von Afrika, Botanical Ardour:

     [S]uch an one […] recalls as a vision of Paradise the land he has learnt to love; he exaggerates the insalubrity of a northern climate; he bewails the wretched formality of our civilised life, and so, back to the distant solitudes flies his recollection like a dove to the wilderness.

2. Something said or done as a matter of form.
3. A customary ritual without substance, real consequence, or unique meaning.

   The examination for priesthood is no mere formality, so we have to study well.

4. (countable) A specific requirement for obtaining a legal status, conducting a transaction, etc.
   • 1927, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados Mysteries:

     I expected some sort of formality before they let me see the crown—so valuable—but there was really nothing at all. I just said, "Can I see No. 64, please?" and he simply pulled one of the shallow drawers out of its case and put it down before me on the table.

• “formality”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “formality”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “formality”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.