Definition of "formula"

formula

/ˈfɔː.mjʊ.lə/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural formulae or formulas or formulæ
1. (mathematics) Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically.
2. (chemistry) A symbolic expression of the structure of a compound.
3. A plan or method for dealing with a problem or for achieving a result.
  Quotations
  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.
  2017 March 14, 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.
5. (especially religion) A formal statement of doctrine.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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.