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Dictionary Results For "obligation" [?]/[OPML]
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English

Etymology

From Latin obligatio, from obligatum (past participle of obligare), from ob- to + ligare to bind, from {{proto|Indo-European|leig-|to bind}}.

Pronunciation


Noun

  1. The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone.
  2. A social, legal, or moral requirement, duty, contract, or promise that compels someone to follow or avoid a particular course of action.
  3. A course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience by which someone is bound or restricted.
  4. A legal agreement stipulating a specified payment or action; the document containing such agreement.


Related terms

Translations

  • Russian: {{t|ru|обязательство|n|tr=ob'azátel’stvo|sc=Cyrl}}
  • Czech: {{t-|cs|závazek|m}}
  • Finnish:
  • Hungarian:
  • Russian: {{t|ru|обязанность|f|tr=ob'ázannost'|sc=Cyrl}}
  • Finnish:
  • Hungarian:
  • Russian: {{t|ru|обязанность|f|tr=ob'ázannost'|sc=Cyrl}}
  • Russian: {{t|ru|обязательство|n|tr=ob'azátel’stvo|sc=Cyrl}}

et:obligation el:obligation fr:obligation ko:obligation hy:obligation io:obligation id:obligation ia:obligation it:obligation ku:obligation lt:obligation hu:obligation pl:obligation ru:obligation fi:obligation ta:obligation te:obligation vi:obligation zh:obligation

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Obligation \Ob"li*ga"tion\, n. [F. obligation. L. obligatio. See
Oblige.]
1. The act of obligating.
[1913 Webster]

2. That which obligates or constrains; the binding power of a
promise, contract, oath, or vow, or of law; that which
constitutes legal or moral duty.
[1913 Webster]

A tender conscience is a stronger obligation than a
proson. --Fuller.
[1913 Webster]

3. Any act by which a person becomes bound to do something to
or for another, or to forbear something; external duties
imposed by law, promise, or contract, by the relations of
society, or by courtesy, kindness, etc.
[1913 Webster]

Every man has obligations which belong to his
station. Duties extend beyond obligation, and direct
the affections, desires, and intentions, as well as
the actions. --Whewell.
[1913 Webster]

4. The state of being obligated or bound; the state of being
indebted for an act of favor or kindness; -- often used
with under to indicate being in that state; as, to place
others under obligations to one.
[1913 Webster]

5. (Law) A bond with a condition annexed, and a penalty for
nonfulfillment. In a larger sense, it is an acknowledgment
of a duty to pay a certain sum or do a certain things.
[1913 Webster]

Days of obligation. See under Day.

under obligation, under an obligation. in a state of
obligation[4].
[1913 Webster +PJC]
WordNet obligation
n 1: the social force that binds you to your obligations and the
courses of action demanded by that force; "we must
instill a sense of duty in our children"; "every right
implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an
obligation; every possession, a duty"- John
D.Rockefeller Jr [syn: duty, responsibility]
2: the state of being obligated to do or pay something; "he is
under an obligation to finish the job"
3: a personal relation in which one is indebted for a service
or favor
4: a legal agreement specifying a payment or action and the
penalty for failure to comply
Moby Dictionary
accountability , accounts payable , accounts receivable ,
act of grace , act of kindness , affair , agreement , allegiance ,
amount due , appreciation , appreciativeness , aptitude , aptness ,
arrearage , assigned task , attempt , bad debts , benefaction , benefit ,
benevolence , benignity , bill , bills , blessing , bond , borrowing ,
boundary condition , bounden duty , burden , business , call ,
call of duty , catch , cause , chance , charge , charges , chits , clause ,
coaction , commitment , committal , compulsatory , compulsion ,
compulsiveness , compulsoriness , compulsory , condition , constraint ,
contingency , contract , courtesy , covenant , deal , debt , dedication ,
deference , demand , devoir , devotion , donnee , due , dues , duress ,
duties and responsibilities , duty , effort , enforcement , engagement ,
enterprise , escalator clause , escape clause , escape hatch , ethics ,
eventuality , favor , fealty , financial commitment , fine print ,
floating debt , forcing , funded debt , given , good deed ,
good offices , good turn , grace , gratefulness , gratitude , grounds ,
homage , imperative , imperious , indebtedness , indebtment ,
inevitability , irresistibility , joker , kicker , kind deed ,
kind offices , kindly act , kindness , labor of love , liability ,
liableness , likelihood , likeliness , limiting condition ,
line of duty , loyalty , mandatedness , mandatoriness , maturity ,
mercy , mission , mitzvah , must , national debt , necessariness ,
necessitation , necessitude , necessity , need , obligatoriness ,
obligatory , obligement , office , onus , operation , ought ,
outstanding debt , parameter , part , place , plan , pledge ,
possibility , preengagement , prerequisite , probability , program ,
project , promise , proneness , proposition , provision , provisions ,
proviso , public debt , recognizance , required , requirement ,
requisite , respect , responsibility , restraint , right ,
saving clause , score , self-imposed duty , sense of obligation ,
service , sine qua non , small print , specification , stipulation ,
string , task , terms , thankfulness , trust , turn , ultimatum ,
uncollectibles , understanding , undertaking , unfulfilled pledge ,
venture , verbal agreement , weakness , whereas , work


OBLIGATION. In its general and most extensive sense, obligation is synonymous with duty. In a more technical meaning, it is a tie which binds us to pay or to do something agreeably to the laws and customs of the country in which the obligation is made. Just. Inst. 1. 3, t. 14. The term obligation also signifies the instrument or writing by which the contract is witnessed. And in another sense, an obligation still subsists, although the civil obligation is said to be a bond containing a penalty, with a condition annexed for the payment of money, performance of covenants or the like; it differs from a bill, which is generally without a penalty or condition, though it may be obligatory. Co. Litt. 172. It is also defined to be a deed whereby a man binds himself under a penalty to do a thing. Com. Dig. Obligation, A. The word obligation, in its most technical signification, ex vi termini, imports a sealed instrument. 2 S. & R. 502; 6 Vern. 40; 1 Blackf. 241; Harp. R. 434; 2 Porter, 19; 1 Bald. 129. See 1 Bell's Com. b. 3, p. 1, c. 1, page 293; Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t. 2. Obligations are divided into imperfect obligations, and perfect obligations. 3. Imperfect obligations are those which are not binding on us as between man and man, and for the non-performance of which we are accountable to God only; such as charity or gratitude. In this sense an obligation is a mere duty. Poth. Ob. art. Prel. n. 1. 4. A perfect obligation is one which gives a right to another to require us to give him something or not to do something. These obligations are either natural or moral, or they are civil. 5. A natural or moral obligation is one which cannot be enforced by action, but which is binding on the party who makes it, in conscience and according to natural justice. As for instance, when the action is barred by the act of limitation, a natural obligation is extinguished. 5 Binn. 573. Although natural obligations cannot be enforced by action, they have the following effect: 1. No suit will lie to recover back what has been paid, or given in compliance with a natural obligation. 1 T. R. 285; 1 Dall. 184, 2. A natural obligation is a sufficient consideration for a new contract. 5 Binn. 33; 2 Binn. 591; Yelv. 41, a, n. 1; Cowp. 290; 2 Bl. Com. 445; 3 B. & P. 249, n.; 2 East, 506; 3 Taunt. 311; 5 Taunt. 36; Yelv. 41, b. note; 3 Pick. 207 Chit. Contr. 10. 6. A civil obligation is one which has a binding operation in law, vinculum juris, and which gives to the obligee the right of enforcing it in a court of justice; in other words, it is an engagement binding on the obligor. 12 Wheat. It:. 318, 337; 4 Wheat. R. 197. 7. Civil obligations are divided into express and implied, pure. and conditional, primitive and secondary, principal and accessory, absolute and alternative, determinate and indeterminate, divisible and indivisible, single and penal, and joint and several. They are also purely personal, purely real, and both real and mixed at the same time. 8. Express or conventional obligations are those by which the obligor binds himself in express terms to perform his obligation. 9. An implied obligation is one which arises by operation of law; as, for example, if I send you daily a loaf of bread, without any express authority, and you make use of it in your family, the law raises an obligation on your part to pay me the value of the bread. 10. A pure or simple obligation is one which is not suspended by any condition, either because it has been contacted without condition, or, having been contracted with one, it has been fulfilled. 11. A conditional obligation is one the execution of which is suspended by a condition which has not been accomplished, and subject to which it has been contracted. 12. A primitive obligation, which in one sense may also be called a principal obligation, is one which is contracted with a design that it should, itself, be the first fulfilled. 13. A secondary obligation is one which is contrasted, and is to be performed, in case the primitive cannot be. For example, if I sell you my house, I bind myself to give a title, but I find I cannot, as the title is in another, then my secondary obligation is to pay you damages for my non- performance of my obligation. 14. A principal obligation is one which is the most important object of the engagement of the contracting parties. 15. An accessory obligation is one which is dependent on the principal obligation; for example, if I sell you a house and lot of ground, the principal obligation on my part is to make you a title for it; the accessory obligation is to deliver you all the title papers which I have relating to it; to take care of the estate till it is delivered to you, and the like. 16. An absolute obligation is one which gives no alternative to the obligor, but he is bound to fulfill it according to his engagement. 17. An alternative obligation is, where a person engages to do, or to give several things in such a manner that the payment of one will acquit him of all; as if A agrees to give B, upon a sufficient consideration, a horse, or one hundred dollars. Poth. Obl. Pt. 2, c. 3, art. 6, No.. 245. 18. In order to constitute an alternative obligation, it is necessary that two or more things should be promised disjunctively; where they are promised conjunctively, there are as many obligations as the things which are enumerated, but where they are in the alternative, though they are all due, there is but one obligation, which may be discharged by the payment of any of them. 19. The choice of performing one of the obligations belongs to the obligor, unless it is expressly agreed that all belong to the creditor. Dougl. 14; 1 Lord Raym. 279; 4 N. S. 167. If one of the acts is prevented by the obligee, or the act of God, the obligor is discharged from both. See 2 Evans' Poth. Ob. 52 to 54; Vin. Ab. Condition, S b; and articles Conjunctive; Disjunctive; Election. 20. A determinate obligation, is one which has for its object a certain thing; as an obligation to deliver a certain horse named Bucephalus. In this case the obligation can only be discharged by delivering the identical horse. 21. An indeterminate obligation is one where the obligor binds himself to deliver one of a certain species; as, to deliver a horse, the delivery of any horse will discharge the obligation. 22. A divisible obligation is one which being a unit may nevertheless be lawfully divided with or without the consent of the parties. It is clear it may be divided by consent, as those who made it, may modify or change it as they please. But some obligations may be divided without the consent of the obligor; as, where a tenant is bound to pay two hundred dollars a year rent to his landlord, the obligation is entire, yet, if his landlord dies and leaves two sons, each will be entitled to one hundred dollars; or if the landlord sells one undivided half of the estate yielding the rent, the purchaser will be entitled to receive one hundred dollars, and the seller the other hundred. See Apportionment. 23. An indivisible obligation is one which is not susceptible of division; as, for example, if I promise to pay you one hundred dollars, you cannot assign one half of this to another, so as to give him a right of action against me for his share. See Divisible. 24. A single obligation is one without any penalty; as, where I simply promise to pay you one hundred dollars. This is called a single bill, when it is under seal. 25. A penal obligation is one to which is attached a penal clause which is to be enforced, if the principal obligation be not performed. In general equity will relieve against a penalty, on the fulfillment of the principal obligation. See Liquidated damages; Penalty. 26. A joint obligation is one by which several obligors promise to the obligee to perform the obligation. When the obligation is only joint and the obligors do not promise separately to fulfill their engagement they must be all sued, if living, to compel the performance; or, if any be dead, the survivors must all be sued. See Parties to actions. 27. A several obligation is one by which one individual, or if there be more, several individuals bind themselves separately to perform the engagement. In this case each obligor may be sued separately, and if one or more be dead, their respective executors may be sued. See Parties to actions. 28. The obligation is, purely personal when the obligor binds himself to do a thing; as if I give my note for one thousand dollars, in that case my person only is bound, for my property is liable for the debt only while it belongs to me, and, if I lawfully transfer it to a third person, it is discharged. 29. The obligation is personal in another sense, as when the obligor binds himself to do a thing, and he provides his heirs and executors shall not be bound; as, for example, when he promises to pay a certain sum yearly during his life, and the payment is to cease at his death. 30. The obligation is real when real estate, and not the person, is liable to the obligee for the performance. A familiar example will explain this: when an estate owes an easement, as a right of way, it is the thing and not the owner who owes the easement. Another instance occurs when a person buys an estate which has been mortgaged, subject to the mortgage, he is not liable for the debt, though his estate is. In these cases the owner has an interest only because he is seised of the servient estate, or the mortgaged premises, and he may discharge himself by abandoning or parting with the property. 31. The obligation is both personal and real when the obligor has bound himself, and pledged his estate for the fulfillment of his obligation.
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