obligate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obligātus, past participle of obligō. Doublet of oblige, taken through French.

Pronunciation

• (US) (verb): enPR: äʹblĭgāt, IPA^(key): /ˈɑblɪɡeɪt/

(adjective): enPR: äʹblĭgət, IPA^(key): /ˈɑblɪɡət/

• (UK) (verb): enPR: ôbʹlĭgāt, IPA^(key): /ˈɒblɪɡeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

(adjective): enPR: ôbʹlĭgət, IPA^(key): /ˈɒblɪɡət/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

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

to bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie

• Bulgarian: задължавам (bg) (zadǎlžavam)
• Finnish: velvoittaa (fi)
• Greek: υποχρεώνω (el) (ypochreóno)
• Latin: obligō, teneo (la)

• Polish: zobowiązywać (pl) impf, zobowiązać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: obrigação (pt)

to cause to be grateful or indebted; to oblige

to commit (money, for example) in order to fulfill an obligation

• Portuguese: obrigação (pt)

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.

   an obligate parasite

   an obligate anaerobe

   an obligate seeder

   (a plant able to reproduce only from seed.)

2. Absolutely indispensable; essential.

Translations

Able to exist or survive only in a particular environment or by assuming a particular role

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: obligat, tvungen, uten valgmulighet

• Russian: облига́тный (ru) m (obligátnyj)

Absolutely indispensable; essential

• Bulgarian: задължен (bg) (zadǎlžen), неотменен (bg) (neotmenen)
• Finnish: obligaatti, välttämätön (fi)

• Portuguese: exigido (pt) m, essencial (pt)

Antonyms

• facultative
• optional

Related terms

• oblige
• obligee
• obliger
• obligor

 

References

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

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Esperanto

Pronunciation

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

Verb

obligate

1. present adverbial passive participle of obligi

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German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

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

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Latin

Participle

obligāte

1. vocative masculine singular of obligātus