Where does “mandatory” come from?
Mandatory comes from Late Latin mandatorius, derived from Latin mandator (one who commands), from the verb mandare (to entrust or command), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European men-.
mandatory (English): Obligatory; required or commanded by authority;...
Definitions
- Obligatory; required or commanded by authority;...
Ancestry of “mandatory”, step by step
mandatory traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Late Latin mandatorius
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Late Latin | mandatorius | of or belonging to a mandator |
| 2 | Latin | mandator | mandator, commander, director; second-person... |
| 3 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |
via Latin mandatorius
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | mandatorius | — |