Etymologically
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obligatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔb.lɪˈɡaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ob.liˈɡat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

obligātiō f (genitive obligātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin obligō (“to bind, oblige”) + -tiō.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in a letter to Brutus, contrasts the pledging of one's mind and judgement for someone with the lesser pledging of money: quam pecuniae obligatio.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Its basic meaning was a pledge or guarantee.[2] It was used of mortgaging property,[2] and above all as a legal term for the state of being bound by law: the jurists defined it as a tie by which one person is bound to give, do or perform something for another, arising from a contract or from a wrong.[2][4] Gaius speaks of obligations made by words or by writing.[2] It also named the document that recorded such a bond.[4] Later, it meant a binding in the literal sense (of being tongue-tied) and, in the Vulgate, an entangling or snare.[4] Medieval Latin kept it for a legal obligation.[5] English obligation (c. 1300) comes from Old French and directly from Latin.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a pledge.[2][7]
  • 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of obligations created by words or writing.[2][7]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of snares or evil devices.[4][7]
  • 533 AD – The Digest uses it of a legal bond and of the document recording it.[4][7]
  • c. 1300 – Borrowed into English, partly through French, as obligation.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pledging or guaranteeing.[2][4]
  2. The mortgaging of property.[2]
  3. (law) The state of being legally bound; an obligation.[2][4][5]
  4. A document confirming such an obligation, a bond.[4]
  5. A binding;[4][8] (figurative) an entangling, snare.[4][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson