responsibilityn.
/rᵻˌspɒnsᵻˈbɪlᵻti/, U.S. /rəˌspɑnsəˈbɪlᵻdi/, /riˌspɑnsəˈbɪlᵻdi/ 1. Capability of fulfilling an obligation or duty; the quality of being reliable or trustworthy.
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1642 H. Parker Vintners Answer 20 The same Indentures were drawn also by the Kings Councell, in whose judgement and responsibility, the Vintners had reason to confide.
1798 Oracle & Public Advertiser 14 July 3/3 The Plaintiff might be right in referring to his Learned Friend, Mr. Knowlys, of whose responsibility there could not be the smallest doubt.
1821 T. Smith Attempt to define First Princ. Polit. Econ. v. 37 A person or persons in whose responsibility the people of a country have a confidence.
1879 Albany Law Jrnl. 9 Aug. 115/2 He goes to his own broker, in whose responsibility he has confidence, and deals with him.
1955 Science 13 May 687/2 He demonstrated responsibility, honesty, self-discipline, and personal integrity to an outstanding degree.
2006 G. P. BeDunnah Nevada: Our Home i. 16 When you get your homework done on time, or when you do something your parents have asked you to do, you are showing responsibility.
2. † c. U.S. The ability to pay a debt or contract. Obsolete. rare.
a. Frequently with claim, take.
(a) The state or fact of being accountable; liability, accountability for something.diminished, self-responsibility: see the first element.
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society > morality > duty or obligation > responsibility > [noun]
responsibility1737
1737 O. Sedgewick World turn'd Inside-out vii. 102 If the Effects exceed his Responsibility, his Conscience, if he had any, will never acquit him of the Deficiency till made up, or atton'd for.
1763 Select Coll. Lett. Govt. Eng. II. 4 Responsibility is the necessary attendant of the service which give [sic] the capacity to advise.
1784 Narr. Proc. & Deb. East-India Affairs 19 Mr. Dempster said he had no objection..provided the bill was so drawn as to place the responsibility for making such a dividend on the Directors and the Company.
1859 A. W. Putnam Hist. Middle tennessee xi. 197 If they took responsibility, they did it with a hearty and a good will.
1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. viii. 305 It is only when the conception of the individual has been reached that the idea of responsibility begins.
1971 G. K. Roberts Dict. Polit. Anal. 190 The individual responsibility of British ministers for the actions of their civil servants.
1994 J. F. Vance Objects of Concern ii. 46 The Canadian Red Cross at one point claimed responsibility for assisting civilians but the High Commission in London disagreed.
2015 New Yorker 2 Feb. 32/1 In the U.S., responsibility for food safety is divided among fifteen federal agencies.
(b) The state or fact of being the cause or originator of something; the credit or blame for something.
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1887 Outing Nov. 142/1 He either predicted, or subsequently claimed, responsibility for the death of two hated white men, and now he was credited with the evil eye.
1917 E. Goldman in Anarchism on Trial 61 We have gladly and proudly claimed responsibility, not only for what we ourselves have said and written, but even for things written by others and with which we did not agree.
1935 A. L. Rowse Diaries 23 Mar. (2003) 84 It is not for us to take the responsibility for the mess that they have landed us in.
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 10 Aug. 1/6 Hunt boasted of responsibility for getting so many Government officials their jobs that he was known ‘socially’ as ‘the kingmaker’.
1971 D. Brown Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee xi. 270 Chiefs and warriors suspected of responsibility for leaving the reservation were confined behind the high walls of an unroofed icehouse.
1988 J. Tuppen France under Recession, 1981–1986 ii. 39 The extreme left wing organization ‘Action Directe’ claimed responsibility for a number of bomb attacks.
2003 Outside Oct. 65/1 Teenage pranksters claimed responsibility for the 15 interconnected circles that turned up in June in a wheat field near Fairfield.
b. The state or fact of being in charge of or of having a duty towards a person or thing; obligation. Frequently with for.
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1765 Let. to E— of B— 9 Is there then no appellation in our language for this minister, and no minister; this adviser without office or responsibility?
1788 A. Hamilton et al. Federalist II. lxiii. 193 Responsibility in order to be reasonable must be limited to objects within the power of the responsible party.
1797 E. Burke 3rd Let. to Member Present Parl. 164 Where I speak of responsibility, I do not mean to exclude that species of it [etc.].
1814 Edinb. Rev. Feb. 530 His tract on ministerial responsibility..is an admirable discussion of one of the most important institutions of a free government.
1853 T. H. Huxley in Life & Lett. (1900) I. 114 Having rushed into more responsibility than I wotted of.
1911 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 17 264 Are we justified in drawing the line of social responsibility and service sharply between Americans and non-Americans?
1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude ii. 66 Looks damnably upset... Wants to evade all responsibility for her, I suppose.
1947 Rev. Politics 9 365 There prevails in Mr. Eyck's book a high sense of the historian's ethical responsibility.
2007 R. Lovegrove Silent Fields ii. 33 They took on increasing responsibility for the removal of competing vermin through their own resources.
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1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. II. Responsibility, ability to answer in payment; means of paying contracts.
3.
a. With of. The fact of having a duty to do something; (also) an instance of this.
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1776 D. Hartley Substance Speech in Parl. 16 Any Bank..may be broken, notwithstanding a very certain final Responsibility of paying Twenty Shillings in the Pound.
1785 J. Hatsell Precedents (ed. 2) III. 177 The resolution of the 11th of December has no other intention than to transfer the responsibility of receiving or refusing the petition from the House to the Ministers of the Crown.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xvii. 184 Then the entertainment began..; Mr. Codlin having the responsibility of deciding on its length.
1881 W. Collins Black Robe viii. 81 I took the responsibility of leaving him undisturbed.
1916 T. S. Eliot Let. 5 Nov. (1988) I. 157 I have certainly reason to be proud of my family: the way they have accepted the responsibility of helping me, without a single murmur, has been wonderful.
1950 Sport 22 Aug. 4/4 He has handed over the responsibility of taking penalty kicks to left-back ‘Jock’ Ferrier.
2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 June a14/3 Employers often turn to labor contractors to assemble crews of workers—transferring onto them the responsibility of checking the paperwork.
b. A burden, task, or assignment for which one is responsible.
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society > morality > duty or obligation > responsibility > [noun] > that for which one is responsible
responsibility1779
accountability1801
job1841
1779 Scots Mag. Sept. 477/2 In civil commotions, and in great national wars, those men take great responsibilities upon themselves who refuse proffers of accomodation.
1797 E. Burke Third Let. toMember Present Parl. 164 That confidence..fixes a responsibility on the Ministers entire and undivided.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. iv. 56 Anxious to be relieved of a responsibility that was becoming irksome.
1880 19th Cent. Apr. 687 As the responsibilities became greater and warfare more scientific.
1900 H. S. Holland Old & New 97 Whether East or West, we all with one consent excuse ourselves from our responsibilities.
1959 Listener 26 Feb. 363/1 What special or new responsibilities do these developments place upon industry?
2008 Total Politics Aug. 30/2 Further harmonisation could work if member states embraced Europe a la carte and accepted the core responsibilities of membership.
c. A moral obligation to behave correctly towards or in respect of a person or thing. With to, towards, or for.
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society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > [noun]
artingc1400
oblige1475
obligationc1485
astrictionc1540
religion1578
obligence1610
engagement1636
responsibility1780
1780 M. Madan Thelyphthora I. 412 Men of rank and fashion, who are now turned loose on the lower order of females, and debauch them at free cost, without being under the least responsibility towards them.
1830 C. Fry Listener II. xliv. 252 The child committed to them [sc. teachers] they receive as from the hand of God: the responsibility to the confiding parents for intellectual cultivation,..is less considered that the responsibility to God to nurture them for him.
1898 J. C. Collins in Minutes National Council Congregational Churches U.S. 306 In every city there are thousands who have not the Gospel. Surely we have a responsibility for them.
1932 Math. Gaz. 16 p. xii She mentioned the responsibility towards the community of those who have had training in the exact studies.
1971 K. Awoonor This Earth, my Brother xiv. 176 For him the responsibility towards Amamu was almost religious; it was something for which in the distant hereafter he would be called upon by Allah to give account.
2005 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 July (Central ed.) r4/3 But the way to fix things is..to talk about what the market demands and the responsibility to your business.
d. A person for whom one is responsible.
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society > morality > duty or obligation > responsibility > [noun] > person for whom one is responsible
responsibility1832
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster II. xviii. 262 [He] would hand over to Newton's charge any one of the unmarried responsibilities.
1873 S. Owen in W. F. Jamieson Clergy Source of Danger (ed. 2) 260 The lady here involved is a resident of Newark, N.J., is a married woman, and has two infant responsibilities.
1936 E. von Arnim All the Dogs of my Life i. 71 Are not five children,..serious responsibilities?
1998 Billboard 26 Sept. 24/3 They form an unlikely team and get each other out of one jam after another, despite Buddy's repeated attempts to shed his young responsibility.
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1893 E. Dowson Let. c22 Mar. (1967) 275 I have to let the responsibilities know exactly how many people I have invited.
Phrases
on (also upon) one's own responsibility: under one's own control, at one's own risk; so as to be solely accountable; spec. without reference to a higher authority.
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1792 J. Fennell Rev. Proc. at Paris 204 They have been forced to submit to the direction of the Assembly, the exercise of that power they held on their own responsibility.
1802 Naval Chron. 7 325 An Officer, who, in the absence of the person appointed to command, undertook it upon his own responsibility.
1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War II. 746 He was made to understand that any risk which he incurred would be upon his own responsibility.
1890 H. M. Stanley In Darkest Afr. II. xxxv. 421 It was then I proposed to him, solely on my own responsibility, that he should take service with the British East African Association.
1902 Nation (N.Y.) 20 Nov. 398/1 Prehistorians had long known of a gentleman..who had long excavated on his own responsibility.
1955 Mod. Lang. Rev. 50 305 The absolute freedom of the hero to act according to the dictates of his own nature and consequently upon his own responsibility.
2003 S. Gristwood Arbella: England's Lost Queen v. 269 To negotiate, on her own responsibility, with any foreign prince would be at once impracticable and quite definitely treasonous.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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