mandatoryadj.n.
/ˈmandət(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈmændəˌtɔri/ A. adj.
1. Of, relating to, or conveying a command or commission; binding.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > command > command or bidding > [adjective]
preceptivec1485
mandatoryc1487
preceptory1508
commissional1528
preceptory1574
peremptory1576
imperative1577
jussory1613
commandatorya1659
commandivea1680
imperatorial1690
society > authority > command > command or bidding > [adjective] > obligatory in consequence of command
mandatory1817
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iii. 157 Moreover, she sent downe lettres mandatories vnto the Phenicians, Sirians, and the Caproans.
1576 A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. To Rdr. sig. ¶vv Of letters there be sundrie sortes [margin]..Nunciatorie, Lamentatorie, Mandatorie.
a1600 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie vii. iii, in Wks. (1662) 6 A superiority of power mandatory, judicial and coercive over other Ministers.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xv. 644/2 Mandatory letters were sent by King Charles into Picardy, to put all places that held for him in those quarters into Henries possession.
a1680 S. Charnock Several Disc. Existence of God (1682) 384 We behold, in the life of Christ, a conformity to the Mandatory part of the law.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 358 Of a Mandatory Writ, in Latin stiled a Mandamus.
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. xviii. 250 If the justice is averse to act, it may be granted by a mandatory writ, called a supplicavit.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. ix. 696 The regular communication to the councils of all correspondence was rendered mandatory upon the Governor-General.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. viii. 716 A mandatory writ was issued to a serjeant-at-arms.
1900 G. Wyndham in Hansard Commons 15 Feb. 182 It is an enabling, not a mandatory, scheme.
1972 Soviet Weekly 26 Feb. 1 Each delegation has one vote, and only unanimous decisions are mandatory.
2. Obligatory, compulsory; not discretionary; (humorously) habitual, typical, usual.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > [adjective] > done, produced, or obtained by compulsion
threata1400
constraintc1430
compelled1541
compulsed1541
violent?1550
extorted1552
wrested1565
coacted1570
enforced1576
forced1576
compulsory1581
commandeda1586
coactive1596
infortiate1601
extortious1602
coact1610
compulsive1611
exacted1618
necessitous1632
violented1641
necessary1655
on-forced1656
commandatorya1659
extorsive1669
compellable1677
compulsatory1748
obbligato1780
coerced1877
mandatory1891
shotgun1937
1891 Boston Daily Globe 24 Mar. 5/6 The bill makes it mandatory upon the judge to impose a fine of $500.
1932 Durant (Oklahoma) Daily Democrat 10 Mar. 4/5 By rock dusting, a practice made mandatory by the 1929 legislature, this coal dust is mixed with an equal amount of rock dust.
1952 M. McCarthy Groves of Academe (1953) vi. 119 Where discrimination exists, protection of the out-group is mandatory.
1972 Incorporated Linguist 11 36 For further education, postgraduate training is not mandatory, but there is much to be said for it.
1994 Outdoor Canada May 28/1 Backpacker stoves soon had two pots of water on a simmer. One was for the mandatory tea; in the other, we tossed some macaroni.
3. spec. Designating a power or state in receipt of a mandate (mandate n. 3) from the League of Nations, or the system of rule by mandate. Also: designating a territory subject to rule by mandate.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to > [adjective] > protecting or mandatory
protectorial1885
mandatory1919
society > authority > rule or government > a or the system of government > direct rule, devolution, or trusteeship > [adjective] > designating mandate
mandatory1919
1919 Summary League of Nations Covenant in C. A. Smith New Words Self-defined 118 The method is to place such [underdeveloped] peoples under the tutelage of more advanced nations called mandatories, which will act under charters granted by the Council, and will report to a mandatory commission which will assist the mandatory nation and enforce the mandate.
1930 Economist 30 Aug. 392/1 When some special ‘incident’ has occurred, a Mandatory Power frequently furnishes the Commission with additional information.
1946 Ann. Reg. 1945 167 The compromise eventually adopted required the Mandatory Powers to express their willingness to place the territories for which they were responsible under the Trusteeship system.
1991 Economist 5 Oct. 8/12 When the rump of mandatory Palestine was conquered by Israel in 1967, [etc.].
B. n.† 2. A text forming an instruction, a set of laws, etc. Obsolete.
1. A person to whom a mandate (mandate n. 4c or mandate n. 1) is given; = mandatary n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > delegated authority > one having delegated or derived authority > [noun] > representative
representera1586
representator1603
representanta1641
mandatory1648
representative1649
alter egoa1695
rep1848
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > [noun] > a representative assembly > fact of representing or being represented > mandate > one to whom mandate is given
mandatary1793
mandatory1833
society > authority > delegated authority > one having delegated or derived authority > [noun]
ministerc1300
substitute1391
vicarc1400
vicary?14..
deputyc1425
vicegerent1549
vicarian1598
mandatary1607
mandatar1681
mandatee1774
mandatory1862
1648 His Highnesse Prince of Wales his Answer to Earle of Warwicks Summons 6 This morning a new difficulty arose, which the Mandatory (the Exploycher or Huissier) as they call him here, who would not goe about the executing his Office untill I would promise him 80. guilders 8. 1. sterling.
1661 J. Fell Life Hammond in H. Hammond Hammond's Wks. (1674) I. 14 [The Visitors] sending their mandatory with a Musquetier to Dr. Hammond's lodging, commanded him to appear before them.
1795 tr. L. S. Mercier Fragm. Politics & Hist. I. 432 The monarch with the mandatories of his Supreme, tutelar and beneficent, authority.
1833 A. Alison Hist. Europe during French Revol. I. v. 309 If the people are violently alarmed, is it the part of their mandatories to refuse to hear them?
1862 Act 25 & 26 Victoria c. 97 §20 To nominate..any person as the mandatory of such..proprietor, to attend, act, and vote at any meeting.
1898 J. E. C. Bodley France I. i. ii. 141 Ecclesiastics regard themselves sometimes as the mandatories of a foreign potentate.
1929 P. Guedalla Missing Muse 216 My senior mandatory went to get a shave.
1991 Renaissance Stud. 5 388 The text also refers to a tax of 500 florins that they were to collect for the papal mandatory, the Abbot of Mantua.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > command > command or bidding > [noun] > that which commands
mandatory1839
society > law > administration of justice > process, writ, warrant, or order > [noun] > mandate
compulsorya1513
mandate1552
mandatum1577
mandatory1839
1839 G. P. R. James Louis XIV II. 340 A Mandatory..was issued..by Masaniello, requiring every citizen to take arms.
1866 H. Bushnell Vicarious Sacrifice iii. iv. 303 In itself, what we call law is impersonal, a cold mandatory of abstraction.
3. A power or state in receipt of a mandate (mandate n. 3) from the League of Nations.In quot. 1927: the territory assigned in this way.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to > [noun] > territory governed by a ruler or state > having mandate
mandatory1919
1919 League of Nations Covenant Art. xxii The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory.
1927 Daily Express 24 May 3 A memorandum issued by the Arab Executive (Nationalists)..accuses Great Britain of ignoring the covenant principle to assist mandatories to become self-governing.
1936 V. Margueritte League Fiasco ii. 83 The Mandates Commission, consisting of nine members, would have nothing to do but examine the annual reports submitted by the mandatories.
1937 H. F. Angus Probl. Peaceful Change Pacific Area iii. 155 It was assumed that whichever of these countries acted as mandatory would do more for the interests of native populations than had been done by their predecessor.
Compounds
mandatory award n. Education (now historical) (in the United Kingdom) a grant comprising tuition fees and a means-tested living allowance given by a local education authority (in Scotland, the Scottish Education Department) to a student enrolled on a first-degree or equivalent full-time higher-education course.
ΚΠ
1973 Where (Information on Education) Mar. lxxviii. 86/2 Mandatory awards, generally known as major awards, are made by LEAs subject to conditions specified in the Awards Regulations 1971, to students admitted to courses leading to a first degree.
1989 Independent 20 Oct. 18/5 Since the 1960s, parents and students have benefited from a state support system in which tuition fees and a substantial proportion of the living costs of students have been met through mandatory awards from the local education authorities.
1996 Brit. 1997: Official Handbk. (H.M.S.O.) 460/2 The Government reimburses in full the amount spent by education authorities on mandatory awards.
mandatory grant n. Education (now historical) = mandatory award n.
ΚΠ
1981 D. Rowntree Dict. Educ. 166 Mandatory grant, a grant that must be made by a local education authority according to central government regulations.
1991 Young People Now 22 Feb. 21/1 (advt.) Two year's full-time study based at the college (with a mandatory grant).
mandatory injunction n. Law an injunction requiring a party to carry out a certain act.
ΚΠ
1838 Manch. Guardian 15 Aug. 3/7 They now came to the court for a mandatory injunction, which, if granted, would have the effect of compelling the defendants to pull down what had been already erected.
1893 Railway Conductor Apr. 165/1 Upon application of the complainant to me at chambers in Cleveland a mandatory injunction was allowed.
1969 Labor Law Jrnl. 20 76/1 It has become commonplace for federal courts to enforce arbitration awards by mandatory injunctions.
2013 Philippines Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 8 Jan. A mandatory injunction would have stopped the election agency from disqualifying the groups.
mandatory retirement n. originally U.S. compulsory retirement of employees at a set age, esp. as required by law; the age at which this occurs.
ΚΠ
1920 Proc. Amer. Soc. Civil Engineers 46 728 It [sc. the pension system] provides for optional retirement at the age of sixty and mandatory retirement at seventy.
1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 18 Feb. c1/3 Mr. Macomber is already thinking about his next switch, when he reaches mandatory retirement in four years.
2005 Nature 11 Aug. 773/2 Scientists in Europe and Japan are sceptical about whether their universities will do away with mandatory retirement anytime soon.
Derivatives
mandaˈtorily adv.
ΚΠ
1864 Federalist I. Hist. Notice p. cxxv That door..has been opened by the law by which we exist as a nation..the law of ‘common defence’ proclaimed by the Constitution mandatorily to be ‘the supreme law of the land’.
1890 Federal Reporter 41 285 When the proceedings are in personam, and the decree operates either by way of restriction or mandatorily upon the person.
1993 Dressage & CT Apr. 5/1 One should not be afraid of the horizontal position that the head takes mandatorily.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.c1487