Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Obligate
Ob′li-gate
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Obligated
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Obligating
.] 1.
To bring or place under obligation, moral or legal; to hold by a constraining motive.
“Obligated by a sense of duty.” Proudfit.
That’s your true plan – to
The present ministers of state.
obligate
The present ministers of state.
Churchill.
2.
To bind or firmly hold to an act; to compel; to constrain; to bind to any act of duty or courtesy by a formal pledge.
That they may not incline or be
obligated
to any vile or lowly occupations. Landor.
Webster 1828 Edition
Obligate
OB'LIGATE
,Verb.
T.
To bind, as one's self, in a moral and legal sense; to impose on, as a duty which the law or good faith may enforce. A man may obligate himself to pay money, or erect a house, either by bond, by covenant or by a verbal promise. A man obligates himself only by a positive act of his own. We never say, a man obligates his heirs or executors. Until recently, the sense of this word has been restricted to positive and personal acts; and when moral duty or law binds a person to do something, the word oblige has been used. But this distinction is not now observed.
The millions of mankind, as one vast fraternity, should feel obligated by a sense of duty and the impulse of affection, to realize the equal rights and to subserve the best interests of each other.
That's your true plan, to obligate the present minister of state.
Definition 2024
obligate
obligate
English
Verb
obligate (third-person singular simple present obligates, present participle obligating, simple past and past participle obligated)
- (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To bind, compel, constrain, or oblige by a social, legal, or moral tie.
- (transitive, Canada, US, Scotland) To cause to be grateful or indebted; to oblige.
- (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,[1] having disappeared from standard British English by the 20th century, being replaced by obliged (it was previously used in the 17th through 19th centuries).[2]
Synonyms
- (force, compel): See also: force: Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie
to cause to be grateful or indebted; to oblige
to commit (money, for example) in order to fulfill an obligation
Adjective
obligate (comparative more obligate, superlative most obligate)
- (biology) Able to exist or survive only in a particular environment or by assuming a particular role.
- an obligate parasite; an obligate anaerobe.
- Absolutely indispensable; essential.
Translations
Able to exist or survive only in a particular environment or by assuming a particular role
|
Absolutely indispensable; essential
|
Related terms
References
- ↑ Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, p. 675
- ↑ The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1996)