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To take a degree at a university. [Eng.] I question whether the formality of commencing was used in that age. Fuller.

A formal written warrant or authority, granting certain powers or privileges and authorizing or commanding the performance of certain duties. Let him see our commission. Shak.

To make a formal accusation; to make a charge. Now, Master Shallow, you'll complain of me to the king Shak.

A formal allegation or charge against a party made or presented to the appropriate court or officer, as for a wrong done or a crime committed (in the latter case, generally under oath); an information; accusation; the initial bill in proceedings in equity.

pect; to praise one in a flattering way.Locke. -- To make one's compliments to, to offer formal courtesias to. -- To stand on compliment, to treat with ceremony.

The end or close of a pleading, e.g., the formal ending of an indictment, "against the peace," etc.

The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views. Nor with such free and friendly conference As he hath used of old. Shak.

To render valid by formal assent; to complete by a necessary sanction; to ratify; as, to confirm the appoinment of an official; the Senate confirms a treaty. That treaty so prejudicial ought to have been remitted rather than confimed. Swift.

A formal assembly, as of princes, deputies, representatives, envoys, or commissioners; esp., a meeting of the representatives of several governments or societies to consider and determine matters of common interest. The European powers strove to . . . accommodate their differences at the congress of Vienna. Alison.…

To give, transfer, or deliver, in a formal manner, as if by signing over into the possession of another, or into a different state, with the sense of fixedness in that state, or permanence of possession; as, to consign the body to the grave. At the day of general account, good men are to be consigned over to another st…

construction or inference. A neutral must have notice of a blockade, either actually by a formal information, or constructively by notice to his government. Kent.

act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights. Wharton.

An agreement or contract less formal than, or preliminary to, a traety; an informal compact, as between commanders of armies in respect to suspension of hostilities, or between states; also, a formal agreement between governments or sovereign powers; as, a postal convetion between two governments. This convention, I th…

, or depending on, custom or tacit agreement; sanctioned by general concurrence or usage; formal. "Conventional decorum." Whewell. The conventional language appropriated to monarchs. Motley. The ordinary salutations, and other points of social behavior, are conventional. Latham.

The state of being conventional; adherence to social formalities or usages; that which is established by conventional use; one of the customary usages of social life.

Colloqual discourse; oral interchange of sentiments and observations; informal dialogue. The influence exercised by his [Johnson's] conversation was altogether without a parallel. Macaulay.

To engage, in familiar colloqui; to interchange thoughts and opinions in a free, informal manner; to chat; -- followed by with before a person; by on, about, concerning, etc., before a thing. Companions That do converse and waste the time together. Shak. We had conversed so often on that subject. Dryden.…

st consisting of four men, forming one of a single line of posts substituted for the more formal line of sentinels and line of pickets.

Reserved; formal; close; cold. [Obs.] "A costive brain." Prior. "Costive of laughter." B. Jonson. You must be frank, but without indiscretion; and close, but without being costive. Lord Chesterfield.

A formal statement of the plaintiff's case in court; in a more technical and correct sense, a particular allegation or charge in a declaration or indictment, separately setting forth the cause of action or prosecution. Wharton.