different between obligation vs assurance

English

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 *ley?- (“to bind”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?b.l???e?.??n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

obligation (countable and uncountable, plural obligations)

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. (law) A legal agreement stipulating a specified action or forbearance by a party to the agreement; the document containing such agreement.
   • 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deci?ions of the Lords of Council & Se??ion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575

     The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Di?charge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extingui?h the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and con?equently of all the re?t, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Di?charged as to one, and ?tand as to all the re?t.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often used with "obligation": moral, legal, social, contractual, political, mutual, military, perpetual, etc.

Synonyms

• (the act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone): commitment
• (requirement, duty, contract or promise): duty

Antonyms

• (requirement, duty, contract or promise): right

Related terms

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obligatio, obligationem, from the verb oblig? (“tie together”).

Pronunciation

Noun

obligation f (plural obligations)

1. obligation

Related terms

• obliger

Further reading

• “obligation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle English

Noun

obligation

1. Alternative form of obligacioun

English

Alternative forms

• assuraunce (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English assuraunce, from Old French asseürance, from asseürer; as if assure +? -ance.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??????ns/, /?????ns/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???????ns/, /???????ns/
• Rhymes: -????ns
• Hyphenation: as?sur?ance

Noun

assurance (countable and uncountable, plural assurances)

1. The act of assuring; a declaration tending to inspire full confidence; that which is designed to give confidence.

   • Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
2. The state of being assured; firm persuasion; full confidence or trust; freedom from doubt; certainty.

   • Let us draw with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.

3. Firmness of mind; undoubting, steadiness; intrepidity; courage; confidence; self-reliance.

   • the affairs of the Tarkish camp together with assurance

   • Conversation, when they come into the world, soon gives them a becoming assurance

   • This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] His air, of self-confident assurance, seemed that of a man well used to having his own way.

4. Excess of boldness; impudence; audacity

   his assurance is intolerable
5. (obsolete) Betrothal; affiance.
6. (insurance) Insurance; a contract for the payment of a sum on occasion of a certain event, as loss or death. Assurance is used in relation to life contingencies, and insurance in relation to other contingencies. It is called temporary assurance, in the time within which the contingent event must happen is limited.
7. (law) Any written or other legal evidence of the conveyance of property; a conveyance; a deed.
   • c. 1766, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England

     the legal evidences of the conveyance of property are called the common assurances of the kingdom.

8. (theology) Subjective certainty of one's salvation.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• assurance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• anacruses

French

Etymology

From assurer +? -ance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.sy.???s/
• Rhymes: -??s

Noun

assurance f (plural assurances)

1. insurance
2. assurance

Related terms

• assurer
• assureur

Further reading

• “assurance” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).