Where does “formal” come from?

formal (Portuguese) comes from Latin formālis, from French -ïsme, from Latin -isma, from Latin -ismus, from Ancient Greek -ισμός, from Ancient Greek -μός, from Proto-Indo-European -mós — Creates action/result nouns from verb stems.

formal (Portuguese): formal being in accord with established forms

Definitions

  1. formal being in accord with established forms

Ancestry of “formal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinformālisformal
2French-ïsme-ism, variant of -isme following vowels
3Latin-ismaAlternative form of -ismus; -ism
4Latin-ismus-ism
5Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
6Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
7Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems

Words derived from “formal”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →Every word from French -ïsme →Every word from Ancient Greek -μός →