noun

• Strict adherence to a given form of conduct, practice etc.
• (computing) One of several alternative computational paradigms for a given theory.
• (literature) An approach to interpretation and/or evaluation focused on the (usually linguistic) structure of a literary work rather than on the contexts of its origin or reception.
• (music) The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism.
• (mathematics, physics) A particular mathematical or scientific theory or description of a given state or effect.
• (linguistics, computing, mathematics) A formal expression of a grammar; a formal grammar; a set of rules of syntax that, without reference to semantics, determine whether a sequence of symbols is a well-formed sentence in a given formal language.
• (philosophy of mathematics) The ontological view of mathematics as a mere collection of string manipulation rules.