formulate

English

Etymology

From formula +‎ -ate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔː(ɹ)mjʊleɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

formulate (third-person singular simple present formulates, present participle formulating, simple past and past participle formulated)

1. (transitive) To put into a clear and definite form of statement or expression.

   He failed to formulate his ideas more clearly.

   • 1876, George Perkins Marsh, Mediaeval and Modern Saints and Miracles:

     The Assembly then formulated its demands, which were thirty in number, including the removal of all Huguenot temples built near churches

   • 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational Grammar, Cambridge: University Press, →ISBN, page 19:

     Another source of evidence supporting the conclusion that children learn language by formulating a set of rules comes from the errors that they produce. A case in point are overgeneralized past tense forms like comed, goed, seed, buyed, bringed, etc. frequently used by young children.

   • 2020 February 7, AJ Willingham, “What a great week for rescue pets!”, in CNN‎:

     Look closely at the pretty seashell print on these blouses. They’re actually formulated from mathematical equations!

Derived terms

• deformulate
• formulatable
• formulative
• formulator
• preformulate

Related terms

• formula
• formulable
• formulaic
• formulation
• misformulate
• reformulate

Translations

to reduce to, or express in, a formula; to put in a clear and definite form of statement or expression

Bulgarian: формули́рам (bg) (formulíram), изразявам (bg) (izrazjavam) Catalan: formular (ca) Czech: formulovat Dutch: verwoorden (nl), formuleren (nl) Esperanto: formuli Finnish: muotoilla (fi), formuloida French: formuler (fr) German: formulieren (de), darlegen (de), (Ware) übergeben (in vereinbarter Form) Italian: formulare (it) Japanese: 定式化する (ja) (teishikika suru) Khiamniungan Naga: thóshá Macedonian: формули́ра impf or pf (formulíra), изра́зува impf (izrázuva), и́зрази pf (ízrazi) Maori: whakakaupapa, whakahiato (a plan) Polish: formułować (pl) impf, sformułować (pl) pf Portuguese: formular (pt) Romanian: formula (ro) Russian: формули́ровать (ru) impf (formulírovatʹ), сформули́ровать (ru) pf (sformulírovatʹ) Spanish: formular (es) Swedish: formulera (sv) Turkish: formüle etmek (tr) Ukrainian: формулюва́ти impf (formuljuváty), сформулюва́ти pf (sformuljuváty)

Further reading

• “formulate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “formulate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Esperanto

Adverb

formulate

1. present adverbial passive participle of formuli

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

formulate

1. inflection of formulare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

formulate f pl

1. feminine plural of formulato

Spanish

Verb

formulate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of formular combined with te