optional - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From option + -al.

optional (not comparable)

  1. Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
    Synonyms: facultative; see also Thesaurus:optional
    Antonyms: compulsory, mandatory, necessary, obligatory; see also Thesaurus:compulsory
    On that beach clothing is entirely optional.
    • 2004, Paula Begoun, The Complete Beauty Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Smart Beauty, Rodale Inc., →ISBN, page 419:
      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.

not compulsory

optional (plural optionals)

  1. Something that is not compulsory, especially part of an academic course.
  2. (programming, sometimes capitalized) In various programming languages, a kind of variable that is assigned a specific data type but may or may not hold an actual value.
    • 2015, Richard M Reese, Learning Java Functional Programming, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 147:
      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.

optional (strong nominative masculine singular optionaler, not comparable)

  1. optional

Positive forms of optional (uncomparable)

Borrowed from English optional.

optional m (invariable)

  1. optional accessory

  2. handicap (horse racing)

  3. ^ optional in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Categories: