"formal cause" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "formal causes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "formal cause (plural formal causes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Philosophy",
          "orig": "en:Philosophy",
          "parents": [
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998, R. J. Schork, Greek and Hellenic Culture in Joyce, page 176",
          "text": "In the production of a statue of Athena for the Parthenon, the bronze is the material cause; the shape and design of the statue is the formal cause; the sculptor is the efficient cause; the honor of the goddess (and the glory of Athens) is the final cause.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The design, pattern, or pure concept of a thing, which gives form or structure to its matter."
      ],
      "id": "en-formal_cause-en-noun-mAsdyFyX",
      "links": [
        [
          "philosophy",
          "philosophy"
        ],
        [
          "natural science",
          "natural science"
        ],
        [
          "design",
          "design"
        ],
        [
          "pattern",
          "pattern"
        ],
        [
          "concept",
          "concept"
        ],
        [
          "form",
          "form"
        ],
        [
          "structure",
          "structure"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(philosophy, natural science) The design, pattern, or pure concept of a thing, which gives form or structure to its matter."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "natural"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "philosophy",
        "science",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "form"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "formal cause"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "formal causes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "formal cause (plural formal causes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Translation table header lacks gloss",
        "en:Philosophy"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998, R. J. Schork, Greek and Hellenic Culture in Joyce, page 176",
          "text": "In the production of a statue of Athena for the Parthenon, the bronze is the material cause; the shape and design of the statue is the formal cause; the sculptor is the efficient cause; the honor of the goddess (and the glory of Athens) is the final cause.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The design, pattern, or pure concept of a thing, which gives form or structure to its matter."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "philosophy",
          "philosophy"
        ],
        [
          "natural science",
          "natural science"
        ],
        [
          "design",
          "design"
        ],
        [
          "pattern",
          "pattern"
        ],
        [
          "concept",
          "concept"
        ],
        [
          "form",
          "form"
        ],
        [
          "structure",
          "structure"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(philosophy, natural science) The design, pattern, or pure concept of a thing, which gives form or structure to its matter."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "natural"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "philosophy",
        "science",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "form"
    }
  ],
  "word": "formal cause"
}