facultative
conferring a faculty, privilege, permission, or the power of doing or not doing something: a facultative enactment.
left to one's option or choice; optional: The last questions in the examination were facultative.
that may or may not take place; that may or may not assume a specified character.
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).
of or relating to the faculties.
Origin of facultative
1Other words from facultative
- fac·ul·ta·tive·ly, adverb
- non·fac·ul·ta·tive, adjective
Words Nearby facultative
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use facultative in a sentence
Similarly the saphrophytes are classed as obligatory saphrophytes and facultative parasites.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyIf a parasite cannot exist outside animal tissues, it is an obligatory parasite; if it can, it is a facultative saphrophyte.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyI have seen this particularly in those cases where facultative divergence also was greater than usual.
Schweigger on Squint | C. SchweiggerMoreover, the extent of the "facultative" divergence attainable by prisms shows a considerable latitude.
Schweigger on Squint | C. Schweigger(b) Both saprophytic and facultative parasitic bacteria agree in requiring non-concentrated food.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique | John William Henry Eyre
British Dictionary definitions for facultative
/ (ˈfækəltətɪv) /
empowering but not compelling the doing of an act
philosophy that may or may not occur
insurance denoting a form of reinsurance in which the reinsurer has no obligation to accept a particular risk nor the insurer to reinsure, terms and conditions being negotiated for each reinsurance
biology able to exist under more than one set of environmental conditions: a facultative parasite can exist as a parasite or a saprotroph Compare obligate (def. 4)
of or relating to a faculty
Derived forms of facultative
- facultatively, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for facultative
[ făk′əl-tā′tĭv ]
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 © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse