responsibility

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˌspɒnsəˈbɪlɪti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

responsibility (countable and uncountable, plural responsibilities)

1. The state of being responsible, accountable, or answerable.

   Responsibility is a heavy burden.

2. A duty, obligation or liability for which someone is held accountable.

   Why didn't you clean the house? That was your responsibility!

   The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not to dominate the world - Harry S. Truman

3. (military) The obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion. With responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success.
4. (military) The obligation for the proper custody, care, and safekeeping of property or funds entrusted to the possession or supervision of an individual.

Synonyms

• responsibleness (may be considered nonstandard)

Related terms

• see respond

Translations

the state of being responsible

• Albanian: përgjegjësi (sq) f
• Arabic: مَسْؤُولِيَّة f (masʔūliyya)
• Armenian: պատասխանատվություն (hy) (patasxanatvutʻyun)
• Asturian: responsabilidá f
• Azerbaijani: məsuliyyət, cavabdehlik
• Bashkir: яуаплылыҡ (yawaplılıq)
• Basque: erantzukizun (eu)
• Belarusian: адка́знасць f (adkáznascʹ)
• Bengali: দায়িত্ব (daẏitto)
• Bulgarian: отгово́рност (bg) f (otgovórnost)
• Burmese: တာဝန် (my) (tawan)
• Catalan: responsabilitat (ca) f
• Cebuano: responsibilidad
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 責任／责任 (zaak³ jam⁶)

  Mandarin: 責任／责任 (zh) (zérèn), 责任 (zh) (zérèn)

• Czech: odpovědnost (cs) f
• Danish: ansvar (da) n
• Dutch: verantwoordelijkheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: respondeco (eo)
• Estonian: vastutus
• Faroese: ábyrgd (fo) f
• Finnish: vastuu (fi)
• French: responsabilité (fr) f
• Galician: responsabilidade (gl) f
• Georgian: პასუხისმგებლობა (ṗasuxismgebloba)
• German: Verantwortung (de) f, Verantwortlichkeit (de) f
• Greek: ευθύνη (el) f (efthýni)
• Hebrew: אַחֲרָיוּת (he) f (akharayút)
• Hindi: ज़िम्मेदारी f (zimmedārī)
• Hungarian: felelősség (hu)
• Icelandic: ábyrgð (is) f
• Indonesian: tanggung jawab (id)
• Interlingua: responsabilitate
• Irish: freagracht f
• Italian: responsabilità (it) f
• Japanese: 責任 (ja) (せきにん, sekinin)
• Kazakh: жауапкершілік (jauapkerşılık)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Khmer: ការគួរ (kaa kuə), ការទទួលខុសត្រូវ (kaa tɔtuəl khoh trəw)
• Korean: 책임 (ko) (chaegim) (責任 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• Kyrgyz: жоопкерчилик (ky) (joopkercilik)
• Lao: ຄວາມຮັບຜິດຊອບ (khuām hap phit sǭp)
• Latvian: atbildība f
• Lithuanian: atsakomybė (lt) f
• Macedonian: одговорност f (odgovornost)
• Malay: tanggungjawab
• Malayalam: ഉത്തരവാദിത്വം (ml) (uttaravāditvaṁ)
• Maori: takohanga
• Mongolian: хариуцлага (mn) (xariuclaga)
• Norwegian: ansvar (no) n
• Occitan: responsabilitat (oc) f
• Persian: مسئولیت (fa) (mas'uliyyat)
• Polish: odpowiedzialność (pl) f
• Portuguese: responsabilidade (pt) f
• Romanian: responsabilitate (ro) f
• Russian: отве́тственность (ru) f (otvétstvennostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: одгово́рно̄ст f

  Roman: odgovórnōst (sh) f

• Slovak: zodpovednosť f
• Slovene: odgovornost (sl) f
• Spanish: responsabilidad (es) f
• Swahili: daraka
• Swedish: ansvar (sv)
• Tagalog: kapanagutan
• Tajik: масъулият (masʾuliyat)
• Telugu: బాధ్యత (te) (bādhyata)
• Thai: ความรับผิดชอบ (th) (kwaam-ráp-pìt-chɔ̂ɔp)
• Turkish: mesuliyet (tr), sorumluluk (tr)
• Turkmen: jogapkärçilik
• Ukrainian: відповіда́льність f (vidpovidálʹnistʹ)
• Urdu: ذِمّیداری f (zimmedārī)
• Uyghur: جاۋابكارلىق (jawabkarliq)
• Uzbek: javobgarlik (uz), masʼuliyat (uz)
• Vietnamese: trách nhiệm (vi)

a duty, obligation or liability for which someone is responsible

• Arabic: مَسْؤُولِيَّة f (masʔūliyya)
• Armenian: պատասխանատվություն (hy) (patasxanatvutʻyun)
• Asturian: responsabilidá f
• Bashkir: яуаплылыҡ (yawaplılıq)
• Basque: erantzukizun (eu)
• Belarusian: абавя́зак (be) m (abavjázak)
• Catalan: responsabilitat (ca) f
• Cebuano: katungdanan
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 責任／责任 (zh) (zérèn), 责任 (zh) (zérèn)

• Czech: odpovědnost (cs), zodpovědnost (cs)
• Danish: ansvar (da) n
• Dutch: verantwoordelijkheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: respondeco (eo)
• Finnish: velvollisuus (fi)
• French: responsabilité (fr) f
• Galician: responsabilidade (gl) f
• German: Verantwortung (de) f
• Greek: ευθύνη (el) f (efthýni), υποχρέωση (el) f (ypochréosi)
• Hindi: ज़िम्मेदारी (zimmedārī)
• Hungarian: feladat (hu), dolog (hu), kötelesség (hu), kötelezettség (hu)
• Indonesian: tanggung jawab (id)
• Interlingua: responsabilitate
• Irish: freagracht f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: responsabilità (it) f
• Japanese: 責任 (ja) (せきにん, sekinin)
• Korean: 책임 (ko) (chaegim)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• Lao: ໜ້າທີ່ (nā thī)
• Malay: tanggungjawab
• Maori: haepapa, takohanga
• Norwegian: ansvar (no) n
• Occitan: responsabilitat (oc) f
• Polish: obowiązek (pl) m
• Portuguese: responsabilidade (pt) f
• Russian: отве́тственность (ru) f (otvétstvennostʹ), обя́занность (ru) f (objázannostʹ)
• Shan: ပုၼ်ႈၽွၼ်း (pūn pháun)
• Spanish: responsabilidad (es) f
• Swahili: jukumu (sw), majukumu (sw), madaraka (sw)
• Swedish: ansvar (sv) n
• Tagalog: kapanagutan
• Telugu: బాధ్యత (te) (bādhyata)
• Thai: หน้าที่ (th) (nâa-tîi)
• Turkish: mesuliyet (tr), sorumluluk (tr)
• Ukrainian: обов'я́зок (uk) m (obovʺjázok)
• Urdu: ذِمّیداری (zimmedārī)

See also

• accountability

References

• “responsibility”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “responsibility”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Feltus, C.; Petit, M. (2009). "Building a Responsibility Model Including Accountability, Capability and Commitment", Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ( IEEE ), Fukuoka, 2009. Building a Responsibility Model Including Accountability, Capability and Commitment