commitment

English

Etymology

commit +‎ -ment

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈmɪtmənt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: com‧mit‧ment

Noun

commitment (countable and uncountable, plural commitments)

1. The act or an instance of committing, putting in charge, keeping, or trust, especially:
   1. The act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review.
   2. Official consignment sending a person to prison or a mental health institution.
2. Promise or agreement to do something in the future, especially:
   1. Act of assuming a financial obligation at a future date.
3. Being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons.
4. The trait of sincerity and focused purpose.
   • 2020 November 23, Charles Hugh Smith, Why I'm Hopeful About 2021‎^[1]:

     Citizenship in the original Greek concept was not simply the granting of rights to do as one pleased;
     it also demanded a commitment to serve the interests of the many via personal sacrifice.
     

5. Perpetration as in a crime or mistake.
6. State of being pledged or engaged.
7. The act of being locked away, such as in an institution for the mentally ill or in jail.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• allegiance
• charge
• committal
• consignment
• dedication
• devoir
• duty
• engagement
• guarantee
• loyalty
• liability
• must
• need
• oath
• obligation
• ought
• pledge
• promise
• responsibility
• undertaking
• vow
• word

Derived terms

• acceptance and commitment therapy
• commitment-phobe
• commitmentphobia
• commitment-phobic
• commitment ring

 

Related terms

• commit
• committal
• noncommittal

Descendants

• → Portuguese: cometimento

Translations

act or instance of committing, putting in charge, keeping, or trust

• Belarusian: абавяза́цельства (be) n (abavjazácjelʹstva)
• Bulgarian: обвързване (bg) n (obvǎrzvane), ангажимент (bg) m (angažiment)
• Catalan: compromís (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 託付／托付 (zh) (tuōfù)

• Finnish: sitouttaminen, velvoittaminen (fi)
• German: Einsatz (de) m, Engagement (de) n, Zusage (de) f
• Hebrew: התחייבות f (hitkhayvút)
• Indonesian: komitmen (id)
• Italian: impegno (it) m, dedizione (it) f
• Maori: rurukutanga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: overlatelse m

  Nynorsk: overlating f

• Portuguese: compromisso (pt) m, cometimento (pt) m
• Russian: вруче́ние (ru) n (vručénije)
• Spanish: compromiso (es) m

act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review

• Finnish: lähettäminen (fi)

official consignment sending a person to prison or a mental health institution

• Finnish: tuomio (fi), vankilatuomio (fi)
• Hebrew: אשפוז (he) m (ishpúz)

promise or agreement to do something in the future

• Arabic: التزام
• Azerbaijani: öhdəlik
• Bulgarian: обещание (bg) n (obeštanie)
• Catalan: compromís (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承諾／承诺 (zh) (chéngnuò)

• Dutch: verbintenis (nl) f, verplichting (nl) f
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} sindevigo, ^{(please verify)} obligacio
• Finnish: sitoumus (fi)
• French: engagement (fr) m
• German: Verbindlichkeit (de) f, Obligo (de) n, Verpflichtung (de) f, Zusage (de) f
• Hebrew: מחויבות (he) f (mekhuyavút), התחייבות f (hitkhayvút)
• Indonesian: komitmen (id)
• Italian: impegno (it) m, promessa (it) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forpliktelse (no) m

  Nynorsk: forplikting f

• Portuguese: compromisso (pt) m, promessa (pt) f
• Russian: обяза́тельство (ru) n (objazátelʹstvo), обеща́ние (ru) n (obeščánije)
• Spanish: compromiso (es) m, promesa (es) f, acuerdo (es) m
• Swedish: åtagande (sv)
• Ukrainian: зобов'я́зання n (zobovʺjázannja)

act of assuming a financial obligation

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} obligacio
• Finnish: sitoutuminen (fi)
• Hebrew: התחייבות f (hitkhayvút)

being bound emotionally/intellectually

• Belarusian: прыхі́льнасць f (pryxílʹnascʹ), абавяза́цельства (be) n (abavjazácjelʹstva)
• Bulgarian: обвързаност n (obvǎrzanost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承諾／承诺 (zh) (chéngnuò)

• Dutch: verbintenis (nl) f
• Finnish: sitoutuminen (fi)
• French: engagement (fr) m
• German: Hingabe (de) f, Engagement (de) n
• Hebrew: מחויבות (he) f (mekhuyavút)
• Italian: impegno (it) m, promessa (it) f
• Maori: ngākaunui, herenga, ruruku
• Norwegian: engasjement (no) n
• Polish: zobowiązanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: compromisso (pt) m
• Russian: приве́рженность (ru) f (privéržennostʹ), обяза́тельство (ru) n (objazátelʹstvo)
• Swedish: engagemang (sv) n
• Ukrainian: прихи́льність (uk) f (pryxýlʹnistʹ), зобов'я́зання n (zobovʺjázannja), зобов'яза́ння n (zobovʺjazánnja)

perpetration, as in crime or a mistake

• Bulgarian: извършване (bg) n (izvǎršvane)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: syyllistyminen (fi), syyllisyys (fi) (+ illative)
• German: Engagement (de) n
• Hebrew: ביצוע (he) m (bitsúa)
• Russian: соверше́ние (ru) n (soveršénije)

state of being pledged or engaged

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保證／保证 (zh) (bǎozhèng)

• Dutch: engagement (nl) n
• Esperanto: sindevontigo
• Finnish: sitoutuminen (fi), sitoutuneisuus
• German: Bindung (de) f, Engagement (de) n
• Hebrew: מחויבות (he) f (mekhuyavút)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forpliktelse (no) m

  Nynorsk: forplikting f

• Portuguese: compromisso (pt) m
• Russian: приве́рженность (ru) f (privéržennostʹ), обяза́тельство (ru) n (objazátelʹstvo)

trait of sincerity and focused purpose

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 信奉 (zh) (xìnfèng)

• Finnish: sitoutuneisuus
• German: Einstandspflicht f, Engagement (de) n
• Hebrew: מחויבות (he) f (mekhuyavút)
• Italian: serietà (it) f, dedizione (it) f
• Maori: ruruku, ngākau titikaha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: engasjement (no) n, forpliktelse (no) m

  Nynorsk: engasjement (no) n, forplikting f

• Portuguese: engajamento (pt)
• Sanskrit: अरमति (sa) f (aramati)
• Swedish: engagemang (sv)

act of being locked away

• Finnish: vangitseminen (fi) (jail); sulkeminen (fi)
• German: Einweisung (de) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tvangsinnleggelse m, tvangsinnlegging c (in a mental hospital)

  Nynorsk: tvangsinnlegging f (in a mental hospital)

• Russian: заключе́ние (ru) n (zaključénije)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 委任 (ja) (いにん, inin), ^{(please verify)} 責任 (ja) (せきにん, sekinin)
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} پایبندی (pie-bandi), ^{(please verify)} قول (fa), ^{(please verify)} تعهد (fa)

Further reading

• “commitment”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “commitment”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.