formal language


noun
  1. a language designed for use in situations in which natural language is unsuitable, as for example in mathematics, logic, or computer programming. The symbols and formulas of such languages stand in precisely specified syntactic and semantic relations to one another

  2. logic a logistic system for which an interpretation is provided: distinguished from formal calculus in that the semantics enable it to be regarded as about some subject matter

Words Nearby formal language

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use formal language in a sentence

  • It was only when he was alone that he permitted himself the indulgence of more formal language.

    The Gay Cockade | Temple Bailey
  • This verse has the form of a petition, but its formal language amounts to an ascription of praise.

  • Hence this architecture is called architecture of the beam, or, in more formal language, trabeated architecture.

    Architecture | Thomas Roger Smith
  • The deep political purpose with which this parliament was assembled is reflected even in the formal language of the writs.

  • Its vehicle was a formal language, having no connection with the vernacular.