obligatory

adj — 2 senses

obligatory

adj

UK /əˈblɪɡ.ə.t(ə)ɹi/ · US /əˈblɪɡ.ə.tɔ.ɹi/

Etymology From Middle English obligatorie, from Latin obligatōrius.

1

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

an obligatory promise
[…] 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.1673, Richard Baxter, Christian Directory:

1 more example

[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.2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 12:

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

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.