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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

optional en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɒp.ʃə.nəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɑp.ʃə.nəl/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From option + -al.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
    • Do you need to wear eyeliner? As with any makeup step, eyeliner is completely optional. From an artistic perspective, if you are wearing eyeshadow, I almost always recommend wearing eyeliner, unless your eyelids and eyelashes are obscured by the eyebrow area. Eyeliner is a basic part of an eye-makeup design because it shapes and defines the eyes and makes the eyelashes look thicker. 2004, Paula Begoun, The Complete Beauty Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Smart Beauty, Rodale Inc., →ISBN, page 419:
    • On that beach clothing is entirely optional.

Antonyms

obligatory · binding · decretory · nonoptional · compulsory · forced · requisite · required · involuntary · obligatory · compulsory · mandatory · unvoluntary · obligate · obligatory · compulsory · nonoptional · mandatory · compulsatory · required · non-optional · necessary · imperative · mandatory · unbewised

Deriveds

clothing optional · unoptional · optionalize

Descendants

optioneel

Relateds

optionally · acquiescent · option · optionality

Synonyms

volitional · elective · nonrequisite · free · voluntary · noncompulsory · discretionary · facultative · facultative · optional · nonrequired · nonobligate · nonobligatory · unrequired · nonmandatory · optionary

Translations (85)

hi वैकल्पिक (not compulsory) · hy ոչ պարտադիր (not compulsory) · bg незадължителен (not compulsory) · ru факультати́вный (not compulsory) · de wahlweise (not compulsory) · de wahlfrei (not compulsory) · tr isteğe bağlı (not compulsory) · tr opsiyonel (not compulsory) · sv fakultativ (not compulsory) · be неабавязко́вы (not compulsory) · fr facultatif (not compulsory) · bg по избор (not compulsory) · it facoltativo (not compulsory) · hu választható (not compulsory) · nn fakultativ (not compulsory) · is valfrjáls (not compulsory) · nn friviljug (not compulsory) · nb fakultativ (not compulsory) · nl optioneel (not compulsory) · pl opcjonalny (not compulsory) · be факультаты́ўны (not compulsory) · uk опціона́льний (not compulsory) · bn নফল (not compulsory) · da frivillig (not compulsory) · de freiwillig (not compulsory) · de nicht zwingend erforderlich (not compulsory) · sh izborna (not compulsory) · af opsioneel (not compulsory) · uk факультати́вний (not compulsory) · el κατ’ εκλογήν (not compulsory) · nn frivillig (not compulsory) · sh izborno (not compulsory) · tr istemli (not compulsory) · ka დისპოზიტიური (not compulsory) · pt facultativo (not compulsory) · ka ფაკულტატური (not compulsory) · sv frivilligt (not compulsory) · sv valfri (not compulsory) · de optional (not compulsory) · sv volontär (not compulsory) · be апцыяна́льны (not compulsory) · es opcional (not compulsory) · sv fakultativt (not compulsory) · de nicht zwingend vorgeschrieben (not compulsory) · sh изборна (not compulsory) · ru опциона́льный (not compulsory) · sh izboran (not compulsory) · el προαιρετικός (not compulsory) · ka არასავალდებულო (not compulsory) · cs volitelný (not compulsory) · sv frivillig (not compulsory) · tr opsiyonlu (not compulsory) · ca opcional (not compulsory) · fi valinnainen (not compulsory) · hy կամընտիր (not compulsory) · yi ברירהדיק (not compulsory) · pl fakultatywny (not compulsory) · nn valfri (not compulsory) · da valgfri (not compulsory) · ka ნებაყოფლობითი (not compulsory) · sv valfritt (not compulsory) · nb valgfri (not compulsory) · ka დისკრეციული (not compulsory) · fr optionnel (not compulsory) · it opzionale (not compulsory) · tr ihtiyari (not compulsory) · it volontario (not compulsory) · sh изборно (not compulsory) · de fakultativ (not compulsory) · ti ኣማራጽያዊ (not compulsory) · ru необяза́тельный (not compulsory) · la facultativus (not compulsory) · ar اِخْتِيَارِيّ (not compulsory) · pt opcional (not compulsory) · ka ფაკულტატიური (not compulsory) · hu tetszőleges (not compulsory) · fa اختیاری (not compulsory) · hu fakultatív (not compulsory) · hu opcionális (not compulsory) · uk необов'язко́вий (not compulsory) · bn ঐচ্ছিক (not compulsory) · de freigestellt (not compulsory) · sh изборан (not compulsory) · nb frivillig (not compulsory) · hu elhagyható (not compulsory)

optional en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɒp.ʃə.nəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɑp.ʃə.nəl/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From option + -al.

Meanings

  1. Something that is not compulsory, especially part of an academic course.
  2. (capitalized, sometimes) In various programming languages, a kind of variable that is assigned a specific data type but may or may not hold an actual value.
    • In functional languages, there is a data type called the option type, also called the maybe type. Its purpose is to encapsulate a value, which is returned from a function. […] In Java 8, the Optional class has been added to serve as an option type. 2015, Richard M Reese, Learning Java Functional Programming, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 147:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
optionals Number=Plur lexicographic