OBLIGED

obliged, duty-bound(p)

(adjective) under a moral obligation to do something

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Adjective

obliged (comparative more obliged, superlative most obliged)

Under an obligation to do something for someone.

Indebted because of a favor done.

Usage notes

In sense “under obligation”, synonymous with obligated, though the latter is only used in American English and some dialects such as Scottish, not standard British.

In dialects where both obliged and obligated are used, there is no standard distinction drawn, though individuals may distinguish nuance or use idiosyncratically. In technical discussions, particularly legal ones such as The Concept of Law by H. L. A. Hart (1961), the words may carry different meanings, such as obligations inherent to a relationship versus ones externally imposed.

Synonyms

• (under obligation): obligated

Verb

obliged

simple past tense and past participle of oblige

Source: Wiktionary

OBLIGE

O*blige", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Obliged; p. pr. & vb. n. Obliging.] Etym: [OF. obligier, F.obliger, L. obligare; ob (see Ob-) + ligare to bind. See Ligament, and cf. Obligate.]

1. To attach, as by a bond. [Obs.] He had obliged all the senators and magistrates firmly to himself. Bacon.

2. To constrain by physical, moral, or legal force; to put under obligation to do or forbear something. The obliging power of the law is neither founded in, nor to be measured by, the rewards and punishments annexed to it. South. Religion obliges men to the practice of those virtues which conduce to the preservation of our health. Tillotson.

3. To bind by some favor rendered; to place under a debt; hence, to do a favor to; to please; to gratify; to accommodate. Thus man, by his own strength, to heaven would soar, And would not be obliged to God for more. Dryden. The gates before it are brass, and the whole much obliged to Pope Urban VIII. Evelyn. I shall be more obliged to you than I can express. Mrs. E. Montagu.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition