obligation

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone.
A social, legal, or moral requirement, duty, contract, or promise that compels someone to follow or avoid a particular course of action.
A course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience by which someone is bound or restricted.
A legal agreement stipulating a specified action or forbearance by a party to the agreement; the document containing such agreement.
Reason for being obliged to, that is, grateful for, something.

Pronunciation

/ˌɒb.lɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/ /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/ /ˌɑ.bləˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/ En-us-obligation.ogg /ˌɒb.lɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/ /ˌɔb.lɪˈɡæɪ.ʃən/ /ˌɒb.ləˈɡæɪ.ʃən/ /ˌɔ̟b.ləˈɡæɪ.ʃən/

Word forms

obligation obligations

Etymology

From Middle English obligacioun, from Old French obligacion, from Latin obligatio, obligationem, from obligatum (past participle of obligare), from ob- (“to”) + ligare (“to bind”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to bind”).

Synonyms

commitment duty

Related words

obligate obligated obligational obligato obligatorily oblige obligee obliger obliging obligingly obligingness obligor

Derived words

collateralized debt obligation collateralized fund obligation collateralized loan obligation counterobligation debt obligation disobligation holy day of obligation moral obligation Sunday obligation

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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