DictionaryAI

oblige

verb
USuh-BLYJ/əˈblaɪd͡ʒ/

Formsobliges, obliging, obliged

3 meanings of oblige

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To constrain someone to a course of action by force or by social, moral, or legal means.

    Federal regulations oblige airlines to compensate passengers for long delays.

    A sense of duty obliged her to report what she had seen.

    Similarcompel, force, require

    Note

    The binding sense comes from Latin obligāre, ob- plus ligō, "to bind". English borrowed the same Latin verb a second time, directly, as obligate. This sense most often appears in the passive with an infinitive: you are obliged to report, to pay, to leave. Cleland spells it oblig'd in 1749, but his construction is the one still in use: something obliges you to act.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    To do someone a favor or perform a service for them, especially in response to a request.

    Whenever visitors ask for restaurant recommendations, the locals are glad to oblige them.

    Reporters requested a statement, and the senator's office obliged within the hour.

    Similarhelp, accommodate, assist

    Oppositerefuse

    Note

    Here the binding runs the other way. Doing someone a favor once placed them under an obligation, and that is how the sense of compulsion turned into a word of courtesy. It works with an object (he obliged me) or without one (the singer obliged with another song). In 1719 John Harris writes "if you will oblige me in it". Happy to oblige is the stock reply.

  3. 3
    verbintransitive
    To be indebted to someone, owing them gratitude for a favor or service.

    I'm obliged to you for taking the time to explain everything.

    The whole town was obliged to the doctor who stayed through the epidemic.

    Note

    Here the word turns from compulsion to gratitude, and it lives almost entirely in the past participle: I am obliged to you, much obliged. The construction separates it from the sense of compulsion. Obliged to a person means thankful, while obliged to do something means forced. The full pattern names both the benefactor and the favor: one is obliged to someone for something, as in obliged to you for your help.

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Origin

This word comes from Middle English "obligen," from Old French "obligier," from Latin "obligare" (from "ob-" plus "ligo"). It is a doublet of "obligate," which was taken straight from Latin.