obligate

== English == === Pronunciation === verb (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ŏbʹlĭ-gāt', IPA(key): /ˈɒb.lɪˌɡeɪt/ (General American, Canada) enPR: ŏʹblĭ-gāt', IPA(key): /ˈɑ.blɪˌɡeɪt/ adjective (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ŏbʹlĭ-gĭt, IPA(key): /ˈɒb.lɪ.ɡɪt/ (General American, Canada) enPR: ŏʹblĭ-gĭt, IPA(key): /ˈɑ.blɪ.ɡɪt/ Hyphenation: ob‧li‧gate === Etymology 1 === First attested in 1533; borrowed from Latin obligātus, perfect passive participle of obligō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of oblige, taken through French. ==== Verb ==== obligate (third-person singular simple present obligates, present participle obligating, simple past and past participle obligated) (transitive) 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 in standard use only 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 ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Partly inherited from Middle English obligat(e) (“bound (by any obligation), obliged”), partly directly borrowed from Latin obligātus, see Etymology 1, -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix) for more. ==== Adjective ==== obligate (comparative more obligate, superlative most obligate) (biology) Requiring a (specified) way of life, habitat, etc. [from 19th c.] Indispensable; essential; necessary; obligatory; mandatory; unavoidably invoked. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:compulsory Antonyms: see Thesaurus:optional (obsolete) Bound by oath, law or duty. [up to 17th c.] ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== obligate (plural obligates) (biology) An obligate organism. [from 20th c.] === Related terms === === References === “obligate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “obligate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. == Esperanto == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /obliˈɡate/ Hyphenation: o‧bli‧ga‧te Rhymes: -ate === Verb === obligate present adverbial passive participle of obligi == German == === Pronunciation === === Adjective === obligate inflection of obligat: strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular strong nominative/accusative plural weak nominative all-gender singular weak accusative feminine/neuter singular == Latin == === Participle === obligāte vocative masculine singular of obligātus == Spanish == === Verb === obligate second-person singular voseo imperative of obligar combined with te