Definition of well formed in English:

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well formed



1Correctly or attractively proportioned or shaped.
Example sentences
  • But he raises an interesting question - the difference between the ‘bundle of cells’ and the well-formed fetus that could survive outside of the womb.
  • Her crops - beans, cucumbers, corn and melons - reached maturity about 10 days earlier than the norm and her produce was well-formed and wonderfully succulent.
1.1(Especially of a sentence or phrase) constructed according to grammatical rules.
Example sentences
  • Though grammatically well-formed, the sentence is meaningless - that was Chomsky's point, the independence of syntax from meaning.
  • True elementary arithmetic consists of all true well-formed sentences of this restricted language.
1.2Conforming to the formation rules of a logical system.
Example sentences
  • When the transform is applied to a well-formed logical statement that has a certain truth value in standard analysis, the transfer principle allows us to rest assured that the transformed sentence has the same truth value.
  • If human beings are capable of deciding the truth value of every well-formed mathematical statement, then classical logic will prevail after all.

For editors and proofreaders

Syllabification: well formed

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