# responsibility

Pronunciation: US say "ri-spon-suh-BIL-uh-tee" /ɹɪˌspɑn.səˈbɪl.ə.ti/; UK say "ri-spon-suh-BIL-i-tee" /ɹɪˌspɒn.səˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/

## Noun

1. A duty or task that you are in charge of and must answer for, such as a job to finish or money or people to look after.
   - Simple: Something that is your job to do or take care of.
   - _Managing the department's budget is a responsibility she takes very seriously._
   - _Training new staff is one of her many responsibilities as head nurse._
2. The condition of being accountable or answerable for one's own actions and obligations in general, rather than any one particular duty or task.
   - Simple: The state of having to answer for your actions and choices.
   - _Leadership brings a degree of responsibility that many people underestimate._
   - _Parenthood carries enormous responsibility from the very first day._
3. The state of being liable or culpable for something in particular.
   - Simple: The fact of being to blame for something, or having to answer for what happened.
   - _The company admitted responsibility for the oil spill._
   - _Investigators sought to assign responsibility for the security breach._
4. The trait of being level-headed, dependable, and trustworthy, so that others can rely on one.
   - Simple: The quality of being sensible, so that other people can trust you and depend on you.
   - _The manager praised the new hire's maturity and sense of responsibility._
   - _Her parents let her stay home alone once she had shown more responsibility._

## Origin

Formed from "responsible" plus the suffix "-ity." Although its parts are of French origin, the compound appears to have been created in English; the later French "responsabilité" was modeled on the English word, and the Italian "responsabilità" was in turn modeled on the French.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/responsibility (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).