Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FORM'AL-LY, adv.

1. According to established form; rule, order, rite or ceremony. A treaty was concluded and formally ratified by both parties.
2. Ceremoniously; stiffly; precisely; as, to be stiff and formally reserved.
3. In open appearance; in a visible and apparent state. You and your followers do stand formally divided against the authorized guides of the church, and the rest of the people. Hooker.
4. Essentially; characteristically. That which formally makes this [charity] a Christian grace, is the spring from which it flows. Smalridge.