mandatory

English

Etymology

From Late Latin mandatorius (“of or belonging to a mandator”), from mandātor (“one who commands”), equivalent to mandate +‎ -ory; see mandate.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmæn.də.t(ə)ɹi/, (uncommon) /mænˈdeɪ.tə.ɹi/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈmæn.dəˌt(ɔ)ɹi/
- (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛən.dəˌtɔɹ.i/
- Audio (US): (file)

Adjective

mandatory (comparative more mandatory, superlative most mandatory)

obligatory; required or commanded by authority.
Synonyms: compulsory, obligatory; see also Thesaurus:compulsory

Antonyms: optional, elective; see also Thesaurus:optional

Attendance at a school is usually mandatory for children.
- 1999, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind, page 276:
  This kind of immediate control structure we take to be characteristic of the tribe, and it leads to a rather rigid type of system in which 'every action not mandatory is forbidden'.
- 2011, Dirk Bünger, Deficits in EU and US Mandatory Environmental Information Disclosure: Legal, Comparative Legal and Economic Facets of Pollutant Release Inventories, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 57:
  It also discusses the access to legal instruments for enforcement with regard to mandatory disclosure of environmental information.
- 2021 December 29, Paul Stephen, “Rail's accident investigators”, in RAIL, number 947, pages 30–31:
  While in the most serious cases mounting an investigation is usually mandatory, there are other occasions where it is less clear-cut or when it is concluded that an investigation would not fulfil RAIB's objectives to improve safety or prevent future accidents.
Of, being or relating to a mandate.
Mandatory Palestine

Derived terms

Related terms

mandative

Descendants

→ Portuguese: mandatório

Translations

obligatory — see also obligatory,‎ compulsory

Afrikaans: verpligte, verpligtend
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: إِجْبَارِيّ (ʔijbāriyy), مَفْرُوض (mafrūḍ)
Armenian: պարտադիր (hy) (partadir)
Belarusian: абавязко́вы (be) (abavjazkóvy)
Bengali: ফরজ (bn) (fôrz), ওয়াজিব (bn) (ōẇajibo)
Bulgarian: задължителен (bg) (zadǎlžitelen)
Catalan: obligatori (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 強制 / 强制 (zh) (qiángzhì)
Czech: povinný (cs) m
Danish: obligatorisk (da)
Dutch: verplicht (nl), nodig (nl)
Esperanto: deviga
Estonian: kohustuslik, sunduslik, sund-
Finnish: pakollinen (fi), pakko-
French: obligatoire (fr), requis (fr)
German: obligatorisch (de), vorgeschrieben (de), zwingend notwendig
Greek: υποχρεωτικός (el) m (ypochreotikós)
Hebrew: הכרחי
Hindi: अनिवार्य (hi) (anivārya)
Hungarian: kötelező (hu)
Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
Italian: obbligatorio (it), richiesto (it), necessario (it)
Japanese: 強制的な (きょうせいてきな, kyōseiteki-na)
Kazakh: міндетті (mındettı)
Khmer: ចាំបាច់ (km) (cambac)
Korean: 의무적인 (uimujeogin)
Malayalam: നിർബന്ധം (ml) (niṟbandhaṁ)
Maori: whakature
Norwegian: obligatorisk
Polish: obowiązkowy (pl) m
Portuguese: obrigatório (pt), mandatório (pt)
Russian: обяза́тельный (ru) (objazátelʹnyj)
Spanish: obligatorio (es), necesario (es), mandatorio
Swedish: obligatorisk (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: zorunlu (tr)
Ukrainian: обов'язко́вий (obovʺjazkóvyj)

Noun

mandatory (plural mandatories)

(disc golf) A sign or line that require the path of the disc to be above, below or to one side of it.
Synonym: (colloquial) mando
(dated, rare) A person, organisation or state who receives a mandate; a mandatary.

Anagrams

damnatory