optional

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From option +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

optional (not comparable)

  1. Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
    Synonyms: facultative; see also Thesaurus:optional
    Antonyms: compulsory, mandatory, 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.

Antonyms

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Descendants

[edit]
  • Dutch: optioneel

Translations

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

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.

Anagrams

[edit]

German

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

optional (strong nominative masculine singular optionaler, not comparable)

  1. optional

Declension

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
  • optional” in Duden online
  • optional” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Italian

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

Borrowed from English optional.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

optional m (invariable)

  1. optional accessory
  2. handicap (horse racing)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ optional in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

[edit]