Word for describing that something can be mandatory, recommended or optional

Question

(Note: This question is marginally related with this one.)

I am looking for a word to describe how obligatory something is. It may be mandatory, recommended or optional (given the context, more categories could apply).

The best options I have in mind are quite verbose:

These words reflect how binding/obligatory/mandatory a feature is.

These words reflect whether the feature is mandatory, recommended or optional.

I would like to use a single word that reflects that quality. A header that could cue in any of these values, if that's clearer. But I find these options jumping between awkward and plainly wrong:

These words reflect the bindingness of a feature.

These words reflect the obligatoriness of a feature.

Is there a simpler or more common word for this concept?

Answer 1

Consider necessity and its adjective form, necessary.

necessity noun 1 (mass noun) The state or fact of being required. ‘the necessity of providing parental guidance’ - ODO

Your sample sentences would then be:

• These words reflect how necessary a feature is.

• These words reflect whether the feature is necessary.

• These words reflect the necessity of a feature.

Note that the last example tends to default to a natural reading that the feature is necessary.

Answer 2

I suggest deonticity.

In linguistics the term deontic is used for words and constructions “expressing duty or obligation”, and although the nominalization deonticity is usually used to speak of the fact of such expression I see no reason why it should not be extended to speaking of the degree of duty or obligation expressed.

However, deontic and deonticity are fairly recondite terms which will not be understood by ‘lay’ readers; so depending on the context you might be happier with a longer phrase such as “degree of need”, or with a sideways jump to something like “desirability”.

Answer 3

I've been looking for such an all encompassing term for the 'mandatory-ness' of something for a quite a while and had previously settled on the word 'Optionality', as I liked how the '-ality' suffix could convey the '-ness' property of the concept it was attached to.

But I believe I have now found a new favourite word to convey mandatory-ness; that word is Engagement. This fits well with the 3 levels of engagement suggested by the OP; i.e. mandatory engagement, recommended engagement, and optional engagement.

Answer 4

Informally, something like a software feature can be:

a "must have" feature
a "nice to have" feature
a "not needed" feature

Formally, a specification only needs to concern itself with "required features".

If you're writing a letter to someone indicating that a customer, say, has annotated a list of features:

The customer has annotated the attached list of features. Some are required, others are on their wish list, and some are unnecessary.

If you are advising someone about features you think they may need:

We have annotated the list of features based on our analysis of your needs. Some we have flagged as mandatory, others as optional but recommended, and some we have marked as unnecessary.

Answer 5

I'd suggest the word important or importance.

For example if something is important then it's mandatory and vice versa; if it's not so important, or unimportant, then it's optional.

A good thing about this word is that it's very common -- easily understood by a lay audience, basic vocabulary, and therefore natural-sounding and understood intuitively -- more so than other suggestions like deonticity or even engagement (which I don't understand in this context) or necessity.

It's also not a boolean or a binary word, i.e. there can be a sliding scale of importance (e.g. required, recommended, optional, ignored) -- perhaps unlike "necessity" where perhaps arguably something might be either needed or not.