formula

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin formula (“a small pattern or mold, form, rule, principle, method, formula”), diminutive of forma (“a form”); see form.

noun

1. (mathematics) Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically.
   x=(-b±√)/(2a) is a formula for finding the roots of the quadratic equation ax² + bx + c = 0.
2. (chemistry) A symbolic expression of the structure of a compound.
   H₂O is the formula for water.
3. A plan or method for dealing with a problem or for achieving a result.
   The company's winning formula includes excellent service and quality products.
   Shakespeare has gone back to the formula of last season, by encouraging his players to press high up the pitch and restoring Shinji Okazaki to the starting XI to scurry around between midfield and attack. March 14, 2017, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian
   Delays, large and small, have a huge variety of causes, so there is no magic formula for preventing them. 2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 42
4. A formulation; a prescription; a mixture or solution made in a prescribed manner; the identity and quantities of ingredients of such a mixture.
   The formula of the rocket fuel has not been revealed.
5. (especially religion) A formal statement of doctrine.
   The extract from the Missal of Constance, which was printed before the editio princeps […] does not contain the formulae for Advent, Sundays after Epiphany, Lent and the Sundays after Easter and Pentecost; […] 2004, Thomas Fisch, editor, Primary Readings on the Eucharist, Liturgical Press, footnote, page 34
6. (countable, uncountable) Ellipsis of infant formula; drink given to babies to substitute for mother's milk.
   Many women advocate for formula, insisting that women who advocate breast-feeding have become self-righteous “lactavists,” as one writer puts it. 2018, Kristin Lawless, Formerly known as food
7. (logic) A syntactic expression of a proposition, built up from quantifiers, logical connectives, variables, relation and operation symbols, and, depending on the type of logic, possibly other operators such as modal, temporal, deontic or epistemic ones.