| Library / English Dictionary |
OBLIGATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
Example:
every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty
Synonyms:
duty; obligation; responsibility
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("obligation" is a kind of...):
social control (control exerted (actively or passively) by group action)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "obligation"):
demand; requirement (required activity)
prerequisite; requirement (something that is required in advance)
white man's burden (the supposed responsibility of the white race to provide care for their non-white subjects)
line of duty (all that is normally required in some area of responsibility)
legal duty (acts which the law requires be done or forborne)
incumbency (a duty that is incumbent upon you)
imperative (some duty that is essential and urgent)
filial duty (duty of a child to its parents)
civic duty; civic responsibility (the responsibilities of a citizen)
burden of proof (the duty of proving a disputed charge)
noblesse oblige (the obligation of those of high rank to be honorable and generous (often used ironically))
moral obligation (an obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong)
guardianship; keeping; safekeeping (the responsibility of a guardian or keeper)
job (the responsibility to do something)
Derivation:
obligate; oblige (force somebody to do something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A legal agreement specifying a payment or action and the penalty for failure to comply
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("obligation" is a kind of...):
written agreement (a legal document summarizing the agreement between parties)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "obligation"):
debt (an obligation to pay or do something)
Derivation:
obligate; oblige (bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A written promise to repay a debt
Synonyms:
certificate of indebtedness; debt instrument; obligation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
Hypernyms ("obligation" is a kind of...):
document (a written account of ownership or obligation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "obligation"):
cash equivalent (a highly liquid debt instrument with maturities of less than three months)
CD; certificate of deposit (a debt instrument issued by a bank; usually pays interest)
note; note of hand; promissory note (a promise to pay a specified amount on demand or at a certain time)
floater (a debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate (e.g. the rate paid by T-bills))
bond; bond certificate (a certificate of debt (usually interest-bearing or discounted) that is issued by a government or corporation in order to raise money; the issuer is required to pay a fixed sum annually until maturity and then a fixed sum to repay the principal)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A personal relation in which one is indebted for a service or favor
Synonyms:
indebtedness; obligation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Hypernyms ("obligation" is a kind of...):
personal relation; personal relationship (a relation between persons)
Derivation:
oblige (provide a service or favor for someone)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The state of being obligated to do or pay something
Example:
he is under an obligation to finish the job
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("obligation" is a kind of...):
state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "obligation"):
financial obligation; indebtedness; liability (an obligation to pay money to another party)
Derivation:
obligate (bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted)
obligate (commit in order to fulfill an obligation)
Context examples:
I would have you to understand that it is a matter of perfect indifference to me, and I refuse to entertain the most remote sense of personal obligation.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
To acknowledge your obligations before you die? Not at all.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Service! oh! it was such an inexpressible obligation!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Limited partners also enjoy rights to the partnership's cash flow, but are not liable for company obligations.
(Limited Partnership, NCI Thesaurus)
I felt that it was getting very late indeed, but I did not say anything, for I felt under obligation to meet my host's wishes in every way.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
You totally disallow any similarity in the obligations; and may I not thence infer that your notions of the duties of the dancing state are not so strict as your partner might wish?
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Neither had I so soon learned the gratitude of courtiers, to persuade myself, that his majesty’s present seventies acquitted me of all past obligations.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
A great curiosity came on the trustee, to disregard the prohibition and dive at once to the bottom of these mysteries; but professional honour and faith to his dead friend were stringent obligations; and the packet slept in the inmost corner of his private safe.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
That first unlucky obligation, I have paid.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
There is no debt, benefit, burden, obligation, in the case.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
