statutory

Etymology

The OED, in its revised entry, takes it borrowed from Medieval Latin statutorius, recorded from 1552,^[2] formed on statūtus, the past participle of statuō (“to decree, enact”), the source of statute, with the suffix that became -ory.^[2] Other dictionaries treat it as formed in English from statute and -ory.^[3][4][5][6] The OED compares the earlier statutary and statutable.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Scottish use, of a clause or phrase that enacts a statute: 1675, in George Mackenzie,^[2] a sense the Shorter Oxford dates to the early 18th century^[5] and Etymonline to 1717.^[3] The obsolete sense lasted until 1766.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The main sense, relating to, contained in or prescribed by a statute, is recorded from 1678, in the OED and Merriam-Webster,^[2][4] but only from 1766 in Etymonline.^[3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1710–20.^[6] In the same year, also first in Scottish use, it was applied to crimes established by statute rather than by common law;^[2] statutory rape is recorded by 1873.^[3] In chiefly British extended use the adjective has meant "so customary as to seem compulsory" since 1822, in Walter Scott,^[2][5] and since 1937 it has described a person included only for appearances, as the token woman on a committee.^[2]

Timeline

• 1675 – (Scottish) enacting a statute.^[2]
• 1678 – relating to or prescribed by statute.^[2][4]
• 1678 – of a crime, established by statute.^[2]
• 1822 – customary, as if obligatory.^[2]
• 1873 – statutory rape.^[3]
• 1937 – of a person, included only for appearances.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to or contained in a statute: statutory law.
2. Required, permitted or regulated by law: a statutory minimum wage.
3. (law) Of an offence, defined by statute and punishable as the statute provides.
4. (chiefly British) So customary that it seems compulsory; also, included only for the sake of appearances.

Word family

• statutorily
• nonstatutory
• statutory law
• statutory rape

Related words

• statute
• state
• stature
• constitute

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House