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mandatory

[man-duh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]
adjective
  1. authoritatively ordered; obligatory; compulsory: It is mandatory that all students take two years of math.
  2. pertaining to, of the nature of, or containing a command.
  3. Law. permitting no option; not to be disregarded or modified: a mandatory clause.
  4. having received a mandate, as a nation.
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noun, plural man·da·to·ries.
  1. mandatary.
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Origin of mandatory

From the Late Latin word mandātōrius, dating back to 1655–65. See mandate, -tory1
Related formsman·da·to·ri·ly, adverbnon·man·da·to·ry, adjective, noun, plural non·man·da·to·ries.un·man·da·to·ry, adjective

Synonyms

1. requisite, exigent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mandatories

Historical Examples

  • They thus had a whole week in which to frame a mandate and select their mandatories.

    History of the Commune of 1871

    P. Lissagary

  • He was compelled to admit the right of the British and French to take over the colonies as mandatories.

  • The people always reserves the right to cooperate with its mandatories, which right it practices daily in the galleries.

  • Faced by this ominous situation, the "mandatories" took military counter-measures.

    The New World of Islam

    Lothrop Stoddard

  • In particular, the mandatories agree to guarantee "equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other members of the League."

British Dictionary definitions for mandatories

mandatory

adjective
  1. having the nature or powers of a mandate
  2. obligatory; compulsory
  3. (of a state) having received a mandate over some territory
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noun plural -ries
  1. Also called: mandatary a person or state holding a mandate
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Derived Formsmandatorily, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mandatories

mandatory

adj.

1570s, "of the nature of a mandate," from Late Latin mandatorius "pertaining to a mandator," from Latin mandatus, past participle of mandare (see mandate (n.)). Sense of "obligatory because commanded" is from 1818.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper