Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Obligatory.
- adjective Archaic Being under obligation; obliged.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Obliged; bound, or under obligation; beholden.
- Appointed; indispensable; obligatory.
- [In both senses archaic, its only present common use being in the phrase bounden duty.]
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- past participle obsolete Bound; fastened by bonds.
- past participle Under obligation; bound by some favor rendered; obliged; beholden.
- past participle Made obligatory; imposed as a duty; binding.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Under an
obligation ;obliged (to do something)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective morally obligatory
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Mr Virgo made it clear to the editor that it was his bounden duty to pass any information he might receive notifying the whereabouts of Biggs to police and this the editor said he would be happy to do...
Unearthed: the scandal of the Sun, Ronnie Biggs and Scotland Yard 2011
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He feels it is his bounden duty to resurrect the ancient spirit of the Church and to deliver its message to the masters.
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No matter how much whisky was poured down his neck, O'Brien could not be brought to realize that it was his bounden and friendly duty to sell his claim.
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If tomorrow we multiplied our effort to educate the next generation ten-fold, we should but begin our bounden duty.
DARKWATER W.E.B. DU BOIS 2004
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On the transatlantic crossing homeward, he conversed with an American Catholic priest who said, “My country is just mad on this subject of drink and I have felt it my bounden duty as a priest to teach my flock how to make good honest liquor.”
CHASING the WHITE DOG MAX WATMAN 2010
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On the transatlantic crossing homeward, he conversed with an American Catholic priest who said, “My country is just mad on this subject of drink and I have felt it my bounden duty as a priest to teach my flock how to make good honest liquor.”
CHASING the WHITE DOG MAX WATMAN 2010
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If he manages to use these three 'Bs' to bamboozle a credulous electorate into voting him back into power it will be the bounden duty of the said Establishment to remove him.
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On the transatlantic crossing homeward, he conversed with an American Catholic priest who said, “My country is just mad on this subject of drink and I have felt it my bounden duty as a priest to teach my flock how to make good honest liquor.”
CHASING the WHITE DOG MAX WATMAN 2010
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It is the bounden duty of Australia A teams above all else to cut the Poms down to size before the big stuff starts, and just for a while mid-innings today, when England got the wobbles and lost a trio of wickets for 13 runs while still a hundred or so behind the hosts, it looked as if they might manage it once more.
The Ashes 2010: Sublime Ian Bell dances to a century for England Mike Selvey in Hobart 2010
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May it please your good Lordship, That albeit we attend here on my Lady Elizabeth's Grace, our Mistress ... we do not forget our most bounden Duty, nor yet our Readiness in Words and Deeds to serve her Highness [Queen Mary] by all the Ways and Means that may stand in Us, both from her Grace, our Mistress, and of our own Parts also .. .166
brtom commented on the word bounden
so it's my bounden duty ... HF 28
December 7, 2006