English
formula
Formula comes from Latin formula ‘a small pattern or mold, form, rule,…’, and goes back to forma.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEforma1‘a form’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEformula1‘a small pattern or mold’diminutive of forma
- Englishearliest quotation 2004formula1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English formula
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Thomas Fisch, Primary Readings on the Eucharist: “The extract from the Missal of Constance, which was…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEformaWiktionary, English formula‘a form’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEformulaWiktionary, English formula‘a small pattern or mold’diminutive of forma
- Englishearliest quotation 2004formulaWiktionary, English formula. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Thomas Fisch, Primary Readings on the Eucharist: “The extract from the Missal of Constance, which was…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with formula, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Ancient Greek μορφή ‘shape, fashion, appearance, outward form, contour, figure’
- morphology ← Morphologie
- morph
through Etruscan *morma
- transformation ← transformacioun ← trānsfōrmātiō ← fōrmātiō ← fōrmō
- informatics ← information ← enformacioun ← īnfōrmātiō ← īnfōrmō
- uniformity ← uniformite ← uniformité ← ūniformitās ← ūnifōrmis
- deformable ← déformer ← deformo ← fōrmō ← fōrma
through Latin forma ‘a form’
74 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “formula”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin forma / formula