obligation: something that somebody is obliged to do for moral, legal, or religious reasons need to meet obligations: the urge to meet moral or religious obligations allocated task: a task or service allocated to somebody, especially in the course of work Synonyms: responsibility, obligation, onus, burden, calling, liability Definition of obligation duty: something that must be done because of legal or moral duty state of being obligated: the state of being under a moral or legal duty to do something gratitude owed: something that somebody owes in return for something given, e.g. assistance or a favor

These words are synonymous but "duty" is used for professional obligations, and "obligation" is used for personal duties in the USA.

Hi Tina, apart from the information already provided, I would like to say that English often has two words for one concept since it has two 'sources'. The Germanic old English language and French. Most of the time the words mean almost the same thing, but the French variant is considered to be more sophisticated. The nobility the elite spoke French in Europe for a very long time, hence the French origin word is more 'snobby'. Compare 'Freedom' and 'Liberty'. 'Freedom' is Germanic, Freiheit in German for example, 'Liberty' comes from the French word 'Liberté'. But they mean 99.9% the same thing. Hence don't get too concerned about all those synonyms.