obligate - Wiktionary

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

• (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[edit]

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[edit]

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,^[1] having disappeared from standard British English by the 20th century, being replaced by obliged (it was previously used in the 17th through 19th centuries).^[2]

Synonyms[edit]

• (force, compel): See also: force: Synonyms

Derived terms[edit]

• obligation
• obligatory

Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

• facultative
• optional

[edit]

References[edit]

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

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Esperanto[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

obligate

1. present adverbial passive participle of obligi

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German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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[edit]

Participle[edit]

obligāte

1. vocative masculine singular of obligātus