optional

UK/ˈɒp.ʃə.nəl/US/ˈɑp.ʃə.nəl/

adjectiveB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,843 of 15,258mostly written

Optional means allowed but not required. An optional extra, attendance is optional, optional module.

The word does real work in contracts and forms, where optional and mandatory are the two states a field can have. Optional extras on a car are where the profit is. Note that something described as strongly encouraged is optional in name only, which is a well-known managerial evasion.

Definitions of optional

1adjectiveoptionalAllowed but not required.B2
“Wearing a tie is optional at the office party.”

optional is a quality of being voluntary.

Where it comes from

Latin
optiō — choice; option; act of choosing
French
option
English
option
English, today
optional

Built from

optō · Latin — to choose, select

From option + -al. option comes from French option, from Latin optiō (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“to choose, select”). Equivalent to opt + -ion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Everyday Adjectives

Practise this word

optional in the wild

In February 2005, an optional Writing Test was added to the ACT.
ACT (test)
Two cities have adopted optional plans under the same law.
List of cities in Pennsylvania
From 1957 to 1972, third class cities were able to adopt optional charters.
List of cities in Pennsylvania
The term "optional route" has also been used.
Alternate route
Route 40, which had an alternate and an optional route simultaneously.
Alternate route

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the optō family

option

optional — used about once every 2,903 pages · #7,843 · point at the bar for the others

← Vocabulary