obligatoria

Obligatoria is the feminine form of the adjective meaning obligatory or mandatory in several Romance languages, most notably Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian (in Italian the corresponding form is obbligatoria). It is used to indicate that something is required by law, regulation, policy, or convention.

In Spanish and Portuguese, obligatoria or obrigatória appears in common phrases such as education obligatoria/educação obrigatória (mandatory education), prueba obligatoria (mandatory test), or servicio obligatorio (mandatory service). The term derives from Latin obligatus, from obligare, to bind or compel, and it spread into Romance languages with the sense of being bound by rules or duties. The word agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

In broader use, obligatoria appears in legal, administrative, and policy contexts to describe requirements that must be fulfilled by individuals or institutions. It can also appear in contractual language, where a clause is described as obligatoria when it imposes a duty on parties.

In music and some linguistic contexts, related forms exist to denote something that is required or essential. In Italian, obbligatoria is used to describe an obligatory part of a composition, though English-language terminology often uses obbligato for a closely related notion.

See also: mandatory, compulsory, obligation, obligation-related terminology in various languages.