obligatory

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óp(i)

Proto-Italic *op

Latin ob

Latin ob-

Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ-der.

Latin ligō

Latin obligō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -tōrius

Latin obligātōriusbor.

Middle English obligatorie

English obligatory

From Middle English obligatorie, from Latin obligatōrius.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈblɪɡ.ə.t(ə)ɹi/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈblɪɡ.ə.tɔ.ɹi/, /ˈɑ.blɪ.ɡəˌtɔ.ɹi/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Adjective

obligatory (comparative more obligatory, superlative most obligatory)

1. Imposing obligation, legally, morally, or otherwise; binding; mandatory.

   an obligatory promise

   • 1673, Richard Baxter, Christian Directory:

     […] if he speak the words of an oath in a strange language, thinking they signify something else, or if he spake in his sleep, or deliration, or distraction, it is no oath, and so not obligatory.

   • 2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 12:

     [I]t was something that every schoolboy of my generation almost `had' to do, as obligatory a proof of impending manliness as scrumping apples or pulling girls' pigtails.

2. Requiring a matter or obligation.

Synonyms

• bounden, mandatory, incumbent

Antonyms

• optional

Derived terms

• disobligatory
• nonobligatory
• obligala
• obligatorification
• obligatoriness
• obligatorize
• unobligatory

Related terms

• obligate
• obligated
• obligation
• obligational
• obligato
• obligatorily
• oblige
• obligee
• obliger
• obliging
• obligingly
• obligingness
• obligor

Translations

binding — see also mandatory,‎ compulsory

• Afrikaans: verpligte, verpligtend
• Armenian: պարտադիր (hy) (partadir)
• Azerbaijani: məcburi
• Belarusian: абавязко́вы (be) (abavjazkóvy)
• Bengali: ফরজ (bn) (fôroz), ওয়াজিব (bn) (ōẇajibo), বাধ্যতামূলক (bn) (baddhôtamulok)
• Bulgarian: задължителен (bg) (zadălžitelen)
• Catalan: obligatori (ca)
• Czech: povinný (cs)
• Dutch: verplicht (nl)
• Esperanto: deviga
• Finnish: velvoittava (fi), sitova (fi), pakollinen (fi) (literally “mandatory”)
• French: obligatoire (fr)
• Georgian: სავალდებულო (savaldebulo), აუცილებელი (aucilebeli), იმპერატიული (imṗeraṭiuli), ობლიგატური (obligaṭuri)
• German: obligatorisch (de)
• Greek: υποχρεωτικός (el) (ypochreotikós)
• Hindi: अनिवार्य (hi) (anivārya)
• Hungarian: kötelező (hu)
• Italian: obbligatorio (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bindende, forpliktende, obligatorisk

• Polish: wiążący (pl), obowiązkowy (pl)
• Portuguese: obrigatório (pt)
• Russian: обяза́тельный (ru) (objazátelʹnyj), непреме́нный (ru) (nepreménnyj)
• Slovak: záväzný (sk), povinný
• Spanish: obligatorio (es), obligativo (es)
• Turkish: zorunlu (tr)
• Ukrainian: обов'язко́вий (obovʺjazkóvyj)
• Yiddish: אָבליגאַטאָריש (obligatorish)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: povinný (cs) (mandatory), závazný (cs) (binding)
• Italian: obbligatorio (it)
• Norwegian: obligatorisk
• Portuguese: obrigatório (pt)

Further reading

• “obligatory”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Middle English

Adjective

obligatory

1. alternative form of obligatorie