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facultative
6 dictionary results for: facultative
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
fac·ul·ta·tive       [fak-uhl-tey-tiv] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.conferring a faculty, privilege, permission, or the power of doing or not doing something: a facultative enactment.
2.left to one's option or choice; optional: The last questions in the examination were facultative.
3.that may or may not take place; that may or may not assume a specified character.
4.Biology. having the capacity to live under more than one specific set of environmental conditions, as a plant that can lead either a parasitic or a nonparasitic life or a bacterium that can live with or without air (opposed to obligate).
5.of or pertaining to the faculties.
[Origin: 1810–20; < NL facultātīvus. See faculty, -ive]

—Related forms
fac·ul·ta·tive·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fac·ul·ta·tive       (fāk'əl-tā'tĭv)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Of or relating to a mental faculty.
    1. Capable of occurring or not occurring; contingent.
    2. Not required or compulsory; optional.
  3. Granting permission or authority.
  4. Biology Capable of functioning under varying environmental conditions. Used of certain organisms, such as bacteria that can live with or without oxygen.

fac'ul·ta'tive·ly adv.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
facultative

adjective
1. of or relating to the mental faculties 
2. able to exist under more than one set of conditions; "a facultative parasite can exist as a parasite or a saprophyte" [ant: obligate] 
3. granting a privilege or permission or power to do or not do something; "a facultative enactment" 
4. not compulsory; "facultative courses in the sciences" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
facultative       (fāk'əl-tā'tĭv)  Pronunciation Key 
Capable of existing under varying environmental conditions or by assuming various behaviors. Bacteria that are facultative aerobes can live in both aerobic and anaerobic environments. A facultative parasite can live independently of its usual host. Compare obligate.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

facultative fac·ul·ta·tive (fāk'əl-tā'tĭv)
adj.

  1. Capable of functioning under varying environmental conditions. Used of certain organisms, such as bacteria that can live with or without oxygen.
  2. Capable of occurring along various pathways or under various conditions.
fac'ul·ta'tive·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Facultative

Fac"ul*ta*tive\, a. [L. facultas, -atis, faculty: cf. F. facultatif, G. fakultativ.]

1. Having relation to the grant or exercise faculty, or authority, privilege, license, or the like hence, optional; as, facultative enactments, or those which convey a faculty, or permission; the facultative referendum of Switzerland is one that is optional with the people and is necessary only when demanded by petition; facultative studies; -- opposed to obligatory and compulsory, and sometimes used with to.

2. Of such a character as to admit of existing under various forms or conditions, or of happening or not happening, or the like; specif.: (Biol.) Having the power to live under different conditions; as, a facultative parasite, a plant which is normally saprophytic, but which may exist wholly or in part as a parasite; -- opposed to obligate.

3. (Physiol.) Pertaining to a faculty or faculties.

In short, there is no facultative plurality in the mind; it is a single organ of true judgment for all purposes, cognitive or practical. --J. Martineau.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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