Etymologically
Log in

statutory

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈstætjʊt(ə)ɹɪ/[1]
  • US: /ˈstæt͡ʃəˌtɔɹi/[1]

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

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