Obligation

How to spell obligation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce obligation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does obligation mean?

1. nounA duty or commitment that a person is bound, morally or legally, to fulfil.

Obligation in a sentence

• The contract created a clear obligation to repay the loan in full.

• Attending the meeting felt like a social obligation rather than a choice.

Where does obligation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin obligatio, a noun built on the verb obligare, meaning 'to bind toward' or 'to tie up'. That verb joins the prefix ob-, 'toward', with ligare, 'to bind' or 'to tie', so an obligation was literally a binding of one person to another. The same ligare root surfaces in everyday words like 'ligament' (the tissue that binds bones) and 'league' (a binding alliance), which is a useful way to remember the single 'g' in the middle. English took the word in through Old French obligacion in the 1300s, when it carried a strong legal sense of a bond or formal promise. Over time the meaning broadened from a strict legal tie to any duty, moral or practical, that a person feels bound to honour. The neat 'lig' spelling, hidden by the way we pronounce it, is exactly what keeps the word faithful to its 'binding' origins.

How the word is built

• ob- (toward)
• lig (to bind)
• -ation (noun of action)