Formula One Is Named After a Rulebook
A formula is a fixed recipe, expression or set of rules. The motor racing name comes from the third sense, not the first.
A formula is something fixed and repeatable: a chemical expression, a mathematical rule, a baby's milk, a way of writing that always works. Formula One is the third kind — *formula* there means the agreed set of technical rules that all the cars must be built to. The name is a rulebook, not a recipe.
- A mathematical or chemical expression. *The formula for water.*
- A fixed method or recipe. *A winning formula.*
- Milk for babies. *Infant formula.*
- A set of racing rules. *Formula One.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | formula | A simple formula. |
| Plural | formulas | Several formulas. |
| Plural (Latin) | formulae | The formulae given above. |
| Verb | formulate | Formulate a plan. |
| Adjective | formulaic | A formulaic plot. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The formula for the area of a circle is straightforward.Mathematical sense.
- They repeated the formula that made the first film work.Method sense, slightly critical.
- The writing is formulaic but effective.Formulaic means predictable.
Formulas or formulae?
- Formulas — the normal English plural, safe everywhere
- Formulae — the Latin plural, common in mathematics and science
- Formulate — to express something precisely
- Formulation — a version of a product, especially a drug
- Formulaic — following a pattern too closely
From Latin *formula*, a small form or rule, the diminutive of *forma*, form. Roman law used it for the set wording of a legal claim — a fixed phrase that had to be got exactly right.
Why is it called Formula One?
Because the cars are built to Formula One, the top set of technical regulations. Formula Two and Formula Three are lower categories with their own rules.
Formulas or formulae?
Both are correct. Formulas is more common in general writing, formulae in mathematics and older scientific style.