different between forbidding vs formal

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??b?d??/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??b?d??/
• Rhymes: -?d??
• Hyphenation: for?bid?ding

Adjective

forbidding (comparative more forbidding, superlative most forbidding)

1. Appearing to be threatening, unfriendly or potentially unpleasant.
   • 1726, Alexander Pope (translator), The Odyssey of Homer, London, 1760, Volume 3, Book 15, lines 57-58, p. 100,^[1]

     What cause, cry’d he, can justify our flight,

     To tempt the dangers of forbidding night?

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, London: T. Egerton, Volume I, Chapter 3,^[2]

     […] he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

   • 1922, Emily Post, Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1923, Chapter 28, p. 498,^[3]

     The writer of the “blank” letter begins fluently with the date and “Dear Mary,” and then sits and chews his penholder or makes little dots and squares and circles on the blotter—utterly unable to attack the cold, forbidding blankness of that first page.

   • 1988, “If You Can’t Fight City Hall, Here’s a Different Idea: Sell It,” The New York Times, 10 January, 1988,^[4]

     Its forbidding brick and concrete exterior looms over a vast, windswept brick plaza in a style architectural critics, not without admiration, call “The New Brutalism.”

Antonyms

• approachable
• inviting
• welcoming

Translations

Verb

forbidding

1. present participle of forbid

Noun

forbidding (plural forbiddings)

1. The act by which something is forbidden; a prohibition.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece,^[5]

     But all these poor forbiddings could not stay him;

   • 1920, St. John G. Ervine, The Foolish Lovers, London: W. Collins & Sons, Chapter 3, VIII, p. 228,^[6]

     All law was composed of hindrances and obstacles and forbiddings, and therefore he was entirely opposed to Law.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English formel, borrowed from Old French formel, from Latin formalis, from forma (“form”); see form.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?f??m?l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f??m?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)m?l
• Hyphenation: for?mal

Adjective

formal (comparative more formal, superlative most formal)

1. Being in accord with established forms.

2. Official.

3. Relating to the form or structure of something.
4. Relating to formation.

5. Ceremonial or traditional.

6. Proper, according to strict etiquette; not casual.

7. Organized; well-structured and planned.

8. (mathematics) Relating to mere manipulation and construction of strings of symbols, without regard to their meaning.

Antonyms

• informal

Derived terms

Related terms

• form

Translations

Noun

formal (countable and uncountable, plural formals)

1. (clothing) An evening gown.
2. An event with a formal dress code.

3. (programming) A formal parameter.

Etymology 2

see formo-

Noun

formal (plural formals)

1. (uncountable) Formalin.
2. An acetal formed from formaldehyde.

Translations

Related terms

• essive-formal
• hemiformal

Further reading

• formal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• formal in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Folmar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin f?rm?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /fo??mal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /fur?mal/

Adjective

formal (masculine and feminine plural formals)

1. formal

   Antonym: informal

Derived terms

• formalitzar
• formalment
• informal

Related terms

• forma
• formalitat

Further reading

• “formal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “formal” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “formal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “formal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin formalis, from forma (“form”).

Adjective

formal

1. formal

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN

Galician

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin formalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fo??mal/

Noun

formal m (plural formais)

1. site, plot
   • 1290, M. Lucas Álvarez P. Lucas Domínguez (eds.), El monasterio de San Clodio do Ribeiro en la Edad Media: estudio y documentos. Sada / A Coruña: Edicións do Castro, page 415:

     damos a uos que tenades de nos essa cassa en que uos ora morades en Eyres, con seu saydo et con todo o formal dessa casa, asi como esta çerrada de muro ao tenpo da era desta carta.

     we give you, for you to have, that house where you now dwell in Eires, with its garden and with the whole plot of that house, as it is enclosed with a wall at the time of this charter

   Synonym: sesego

2. foundation, ruin
3. mould for the production of tiles

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin formalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fo??mal/

Adjective

formal m or f (plural formais)

1. formal

Derived terms

• formalmente

Related terms

• forma
• formalidade
• informal

Further reading

• “formal” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

References

• “formal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “formal” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “formal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “formal” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “formal” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

German

Etymology

Form +? -al

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f???ma?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l

Adjective

formal (comparative formaler, superlative am formalsten)

1. formal (being in accord with established forms)

Usage notes

Not to be confused with formell.The adjectives formell and informell express the presence or absence of ceremonies: ein informelles Treffen is a meeting in a near-private context.The adjective formal stresses the outward appearance (pro forma) as opposed to the content or the spirit.

Declension

Further reading

• “formal” in Duden online
• “formal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Piedmontese

Etymology

From Latin formalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fur?mal/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

formal

1. formal

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin formalis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /fo??maw/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fu??mal/
• Hyphenation: for?mal

Adjective

formal m or f (plural formais, comparable)

1. formal (being in accord with established forms)
2. formal (official)
3. formal (relating to the form or structure of something)
4. formal (ceremonial)
5. (logic) formal (involving mere manipulations of symbols)

Further reading

• “formal” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French formel, Latin formalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /for?mal/

Adjective

formal m or n (feminine singular formal?, masculine plural formali, feminine and neuter plural formale)

1. formal

Declension

Related terms

• formalitate

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin formalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fo??mal/, [fo??mal]
• Hyphenation: for?mal

Adjective

formal (plural formales)

1. formal
2. reliable, dependable

Derived terms

Related terms

• forma
• informal
  • informalidad
  • informalmente

Further reading

• “formal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.