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Necessary vs Compulsory - What's the difference?

necessary | compulsory |

As adjectives the difference between necessary and compulsory

is that necessary is needed, required while compulsory is required; obligatory; mandatory.

As nouns the difference between necessary and compulsory

is that necessary is bathroom, toilet, loo while compulsory is something that is compulsory or required.

necessary

English

(wikipedia necessary)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • needed, required
  • * Shakespeare
    • 'Tis necessary he should die.
  • * Tillotson
    • A certain kind of temper is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of our minds.
  • Such as must be; not to be avoided; inevitable.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Death, a necessary end, / Will come when it will come.
  • Acting from necessity or compulsion; involuntary.
    • Whether man is a necessary or a free agent is a question much discussed.

    Synonyms

    * (needed) See also * (such as must be) inevitable, natural

    Antonyms

    * (needed) unnecessary * (such as must be) evitable, incidental, impossible

    Derived terms

    * necessarily * necessary condition

    Related terms

    * necessariness * necessitate * necessitation * necessitousness * necessitude * necessity

    External links

    *

    Noun

    (necessaries)
  • (archaic, British) bathroom, toilet, loo

    • External links

    * *

    Statistics

    *

    compulsory

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Required; obligatory; mandatory.
  • * 1827 , A. D. Jr., Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal , A. and C. Black, page 212:
    • They are entirely private concerns, established by individual teachers, and attendance upon them is no more compulsory than attendance on our dispensaries.
  • * 1996 , (Ugo Pagano), Democracy and Efficiency in the Economic Enterprise , page 73:
    • Some might agree that membership in the firm is perhaps more compulsory than membership in a municipality, but balk at applying the analogy to the nation.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
    • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
  • Having the power of compulsion; constraining.

    • Synonyms

    * mandatory

    Antonyms

    * (required) optional

    Noun

    (compulsories)
  • Something that is compulsory or required.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2008, date=March 22, author=The Associated Press, title=French Victory in Ice Dance, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Delobel and Schoenfelder failed to win the free dance, but they had built a big lead in the compulsories and the original dance. }}