Wordwyrt

oblige

/əbˈlaɪdʒ/uh-BLYJ
/əbˈlaɪdʒ/uh-BLYJ

Meaningto bind

Common meaning: to bind by duty or by a favour

‘towards, against, in the way’ + ‘to tie, bind’ → oblige

Journey through time

  1. Latinligō, ligāvī‘to tie, bind’
  2. Frenchobliger
  3. Middle Englishobligensource
  4. Englishoblige‘to bind by duty or by a favour’ · today

ob- also in: obeseobserveobviousobfuscateobliterate

lig also in: allyreligion

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin ligō ‘to tie, bind’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry ligō, p. 1064 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

allyreligion

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