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responsibility

[ri-spon-suh-bil-i-tee]
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noun, plural re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.
  1. the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management.
  2. an instance of being responsible: The responsibility for this mess is yours!
  3. a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible: the responsibilities of authority.
  4. a person or thing for which one is responsible: A child is a responsibility to its parents.
  5. reliability or dependability, especially in meeting debts or payments.
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Idioms
  1. on one's own responsibility, on one's own initiative or authority: He changed the order on his own responsibility.
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Origin of responsibility

First recorded in 1780–90; respons(ible) + -ibility
Related formsnon·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, noun, plural non·re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.pre·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, noun, plural pre·re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.self-re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, nounsu·per·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty, noun, plural su·per·re·spon·si·bil·i·ties.

Synonyms

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1. answerability, accountability.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for self-responsibility

Historical Examples

  • She wants the great tonic cure of self-reliance and self-responsibility.

    Home Rule

    Harold Spender

  • Believing in the dignity of self-responsibility, he could not assume the burden of Julia's discouragement.

    Narcissus

    Evelyn Scott

  • As Ursula passed from girlhood towards womanhood, gradually the cloud of self-responsibility gathered upon her.

    The Rainbow

    D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for self-responsibility

responsibility

noun plural -ties
  1. the state or position of being responsible
  2. a person or thing for which one is responsible
  3. the ability or authority to act or decide on one's own, without supervision
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for self-responsibility

responsibility

n.

"condition of being responsible," 1787, from responsible + -ity. Meaning "that for which one is responsible" is from 1796. Related: Responsibilities.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper