Obligation

Definition - Noun
1  : a promise, acknowledgment, or agreement (as a contract) that binds one to a specific performance (as payment)
also
: the binding power of such an agreement or indication <held that the amendment did not unconstitutionally impair the ~s of contracts ­Davis v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 521 N.W.2d 366 (1994)>
2  : a debt security (as a corporate or government bond)
see also collateralized mortgage obligation
3  : what one is obligated to do, satisfy, or fulfill: as
a  : a commitment to pay a particular amount of money <does not create a debt, liability, or other ~, legal or moral ­State v. Florida Dev. Fin. Corp., 650 So. 2d 14 (1995)>
also
: an amount owed in such a commitment
b  : a duty arising from law, contract, or morality <had a legal ~ as an employer> <a contractual ~>
4  in the civil law of Louisiana : a relationship that binds one party to a performance (as a payment or transfer) or nonperformance for another party
see also contract offense quasi-offense
An obligation under civil law may arise by operation of law, naturally, or by contract or other declaration of will. The elements of an obligation are: the parties, an object, the relationship by virtue of which one party is bound to perform for the other's benefit, and, in the case of conventional obligations, a cause.
Pronunciation"ä-bl&-'gA-sh&n

Pronunciation Key

  • \&\ as a and u in a b ut
  • \[^&]\ as e in kitt en
  • \&r\ as ur and er in f urther
  • \a\ as a inash
  • \A\ as a in ace
  • \?\ as o in m op
  • \au\ as ou in ou t
  • \ch\ as ch in ch in
  • \e\ as e in bet
  • \E\ as ea in easy
  • \g\ as g in go
  • \i\ as i in hit
  • \I\ as i in ice
  • \j\ as j in job
  • \[ng]\ as ng in sing
  • \O\ as o in go
  • \o\ as aw in law
  • \oi\ as oy in boy
  • \th\ as th in thin
  • \[th_]\ as thin the
  • \?\ as oo in loot
  • \u\ as oo in foot
  • \y\ as y in yet
  • \zh\ as si in vision


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Based on Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©2001.
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writ of error coram nobis

a writ calling the attention of the trial court to facts which do not appear on the record despite the exercise of reasonable diligence by the defendant and which if known and established at the time a judgment was rendered would have resulted in a different judgment


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