obligation

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɒb.lɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/
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• General-American, dialectal: /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/ of Canada
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• General-American, dialectal: /ˌɑ.bləˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/ of Canada
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Canada, dialectal: /ˌɒb.lɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/ of the US
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• Australian: /ˌɔb.lɪˈɡæɪ.ʃən/
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• New-Zealand: /ˌɒb.ləˈɡæɪ.ʃən/
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• New-Zealand: /ˌɔ̟b.ləˈɡæɪ.ʃən/
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• rhymes with -eɪʃən
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• CMU ARPABET: AA2 B L AH0 G EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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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”).

159 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Albanian: do bërë — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Arabic: وَاجِب (wājib) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Arabic: فَرِيضَة (farīḍa) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Arabic: وَظِيفَة (waẓīfa) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Armenian: պարտավորություն (partavorutʻyun) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Azerbaijani: öhdəlik — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Azerbaijani: vəzifə — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Azerbaijani: borc — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Belarusian: абавяза́цельства (abavjazácjelʹstva) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Belarusian: абавя́зак (abavjázak) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Belarusian: паві́ннасць (pavínnascʹ) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Belarusian: доўг (dowh) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Bulgarian: задълже́ние (zadǎlžénie) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Catalan: obligació — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Chinese Mandarin: 義務 /义务 (yìwù) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Chinese Mandarin: 責任 /责任 (zérèn) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Czech: závazek — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Czech: povinnost — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Danish: pligt — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Danish: forpligtelse — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Dutch: verplichting — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Dutch: plicht — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Esperanto: ŝuldiĝo — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Esperanto: sindevigo — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Finnish: sitoutuminen — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• French: obligation — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Galician: obrigación — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Galician: obriga — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Georgian: ვალდებულება (valdebuleba) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• German: Verpflichtung — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• German: Pflicht — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Greek: υποχρέωση (ypochréosi) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Hindi: दायित्व (dāyitva) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Hungarian: elköteleződés — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Hungarian: kötelezettségvállalás — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Irish: oibleagáid — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Italian: vincolo — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Japanese: 義務 (gimu) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Japanese: 責任 (sekinin) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Kazakh: міндеттеме (mındetteme) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Korean: 의무 (uimu) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Korean: 책임 (chaegim) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Kyrgyz: милдеттенме (mildettenme) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Latin: obligātiō — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Macedonian: задолжение (zadolženie) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Macedonian: обврска (obvrska) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Māori: takohanga — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Māori: herenga — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Norwegian Bokmål: forpliktelse — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Norwegian Bokmål: plikt — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Persian: وظیفه (vazife) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Plautdietsch: Flicht — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Polish: obowiązek — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Polish: zobowiązanie — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Polish: powinność — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Portuguese: obrigação — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Romanian: obligare — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Romanian: obligație — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Russian: обяза́тельство (objazátelʹstvo) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Russian: долг (dolg) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Russian: обя́занность (objázannostʹ) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Scottish Gaelic: comain — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Scottish Gaelic: còir — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Serbo-Croatian: о̏бавеза — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Serbo-Croatian: о̏бвеза — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍbaveza — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍbveza — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Slovak: záväzok — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Slovak: povinnosť — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Slovene: obveznost — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Spanish: obligación — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Swahili: wajibu — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Swedish: förpliktelse — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Swedish: plikt — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Tagalog: harapin — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Tajik: вазифа (vazifa) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Tarifit: amerwas — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Tocharian B: ārk — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Turkish: vazife — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Turkish: yükümlülük — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Ukrainian: зобов'я́зання (zobovʺjázannja) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Ukrainian: зобов'яза́ння (zobovʺjazánnja) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Ukrainian: пови́нність (povýnnistʹ) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Ukrainian: обо́в'язок (obóvʺjazok) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Ukrainian: борг (borh) — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Uzbek: vazifa — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Uzbek: majburiyat — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Uzbek: burch — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Vietnamese: nghĩa vụ — act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone
• Armenian: պարտականություն (partakanutʻyun) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Azerbaijani: borc — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Belarusian: абавя́зак (abavjázak) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Belarusian: паві́ннасць (pavínnascʹ) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Bulgarian: дълг (dǎlg) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Catalan: obligació — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Catalan: compromís — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Choctaw: aheka — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Czech: závazek — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Czech: povinnost — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Danish: pligt — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Esperanto: devo — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Finnish: velvollisuus — social, legal, or moral requirement
• French: obligation — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Galician: obriga — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Greek: υποχρέωση (ypochréosi) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Hindi: नैतिकता (naitiktā) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Hungarian: kötelezettség — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Hungarian: lekötelezettség — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Hungarian: elkötelezettség — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Irish: oibleagáid — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Irish: dualgas — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Italian: obbligo — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Māori: herenga — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Plautdietsch: Flicht — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Portuguese: obrigação — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Portuguese: compromisso — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Romanian: obligație — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Russian: обя́занность (objázannostʹ) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Russian: долг (dolg) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Scottish Gaelic: comain — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Scottish Gaelic: còir — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Slovak: záväzok — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Slovak: povinnosť — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Spanish: compromiso — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Spanish: obligación — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Swedish: skyldighet — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Tagalog: harapin — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Turkish: yükümlülük — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Ottoman Turkish: اصر (ısr) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Ottoman Turkish: منت (minnet) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Ukrainian: обо́в'язок (obóvʺjazok) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Ukrainian: пови́нність (povýnnistʹ) — social, legal, or moral requirement
• Choctaw: aheka — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Danish: pligt — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Esperanto: devo — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Finnish: velvollisuus — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• French: obligation — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Galician: obriga — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Hindi: नैतिक (naitik) — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Hungarian: kötelesség — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Irish: oibleagáid — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Italian: dovere — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Russian: обя́занность (objázannostʹ) — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Scottish Gaelic: còir — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Spanish: deber — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Spanish: obligación — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Ottoman Turkish: اصر (ısr) — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Ottoman Turkish: منت (minnet) — course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience
• Finnish: sitoumus — legal agreement
• French: obligation — legal agreement
• Galician: obrigación — legal agreement
• Hungarian: kötelezvény — legal agreement
• Italian: obbligazione — legal agreement
• Polish: zobowiązanie — legal agreement
• Spanish: compromiso — legal agreement
• Spanish: deber — legal agreement
• Spanish: obligación — legal agreement
• Tagalog: harapin — legal agreement
• French: obligation — (countable) reason for being obliged, grateful