facultative
UK /ˈfæ.kəl.tə.tɪv/ · US /ˈfæ.kəlˌteɪ.tɪv/ adjective
- adjective Of or relating to faculty, especially to mental faculty.
- adjective Not obligate; optional, discretionary or elective.
- adjective That grants permission or power to do something.
- adjective (biology) Able to perform a particular life function, or to live generally, in more than one way. “facultative feeder”
- adjective (geometry, of a point) At which a given function is positive.
Synonyms
discretionary elective free noncompulsory nonmandatory nonobligate nonobligatory nonrequired nonrequisite optional optionary unrequired volitional voluntary
Antonyms
basic essential indispensable necessar necessary necessitous needed prerequisite required requisite obligate
Etymology
From French facultatif. By surface analysis, faculty + -ative.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having relation to the grant or exercise faculty, or authority, privilege, license, or the like hence, optional; as, facultative enactments, or those which convey a faculty, or permission; the facultative referendum of Switzerland is one that is optional with the people and is necessary only when demanded by petition; facultative studies; --opposed to obligatory and compulsory, and sometimes used with to.
- adjective Of such a character as to admit of existing under various forms or conditions, or of happening or not happening, or the like; specif.: (Biol.)
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “facultative”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details