different between obliged vs obligate

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??bla?d?d/
• Hyphenation, UK: ob?liged; US: obliged

Adjective

obliged (comparative more obliged, superlative most obliged)

1. Under an obligation to do something.

   All employees are obliged to complete a tax return every year.

2. Grateful or indebted because of a favor done.

   I'm greatly obliged for your help with this problem.

Usage notes

In sense “under obligation”, synonymous with obligated, though the latter is only used in American English and some dialects such as Scottish, not standard British.

In dialects where both obliged and obligated are used, there is no standard distinction drawn, though individuals may distinguish nuance or use idiosyncratically. In technical discussions, particularly legal ones such as The Concept of Law by H. L. A. Hart (1961), the words may carry different meanings, such as obligations inherent to a relationship versus ones externally imposed.

The "grateful or indebted" sense is considered dated in some contexts.

Synonyms

• (under obligation): obligated

Translations

Verb

obliged

1. simple past tense and past participle of oblige

References

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin oblig?tus, past participle of oblig?. Doublet of oblige, taken through French.

Pronunciation

• (US) (verb): enPR: ä?bl?g?t, IPA^(key): /??bl??e?t/

(adjective): enPR: ä?bl?g?t, IPA^(key): /??bl???t/

• (UK) (verb): enPR: ôb?l?g?t, IPA^(key): /??bl??e?t/

(adjective): enPR: ôb?l?g?t, IPA^(key): /??bl???t/

Verb

obligate (third-person singular simple present obligates, present participle obligating, simple past and past participle obligated)

1. (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To bind, compel, constrain, or oblige by a social, legal, or moral tie.
2. (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To cause to be grateful or indebted; to oblige.
3. (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To commit (money, for example) in order to fulfill an obligation.

Usage notes

In non-legal usage, almost exclusively used in the passive, in form “obligated to X” where ‘X’ is a verb infinitive or noun phrase, as in “obligated to pay”. Further, it is now only in standard use in American English and some dialects such as Scottish, having disappeared from standard British English by the 20th century, being replaced by obliged (it was previously used in the 17th through 19th centuries).

Synonyms

• (force, compel): See also: force: Synonyms

Derived terms

• obligation
• obligatory

Translations

Adjective

obligate (comparative more obligate, superlative most obligate)

1. (biology) Able to exist or survive only in a particular environment or by assuming a particular role.

   (a plant able to reproduce only from seed.)

2. Absolutely indispensable; essential.

Translations

Antonyms

• facultative
• optional

Related terms

References

• obligate at OneLook Dictionary Search
• obligate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /obli??ate/
• Hyphenation: o?bli?ga?te
• Rhymes: -ate

Verb

obligate

1. present adverbial passive participle of obligi

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

obligate

1. inflection of obligat:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Latin

Participle

oblig?te

1. vocative masculine singular of oblig?tus