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Prerequisite vs Compulsory - What's the difference?

prerequisite | compulsory |

As adjectives the difference between prerequisite and compulsory

is that prerequisite is required as a prior condition of something else; necessary or indispensable while compulsory is required; obligatory; mandatory.

As nouns the difference between prerequisite and compulsory

is that prerequisite is something that must be gained in order to gain something else while compulsory is something that is compulsory or required.

prerequisite

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Required as a prior condition of something else; necessary or indispensable.

    • Synonyms

    * See also

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that must be gained in order to gain something else
    • Having a decent qualification is a prerequisite to getting a good job in marketing.
  • In education, a course or topic that must be completed before another course or topic can be started. May be colloquially referred to as a prereq .
    • Algebra is typically a prerequisite for physics .

    Related terms

    * corequisite

    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. }}