responsible
/rɪˈspɑːnsəbəl/adjective
accountable for actions or their consequences
From Latin re- (back) + Latin spondere (to pledge).
Lineage
re-
spondere
The story
A responsible person is, etymologically, someone who must answer back. Latin respondēre combined re-, “back” or “in return,” with spondēre, “to pledge”—the same promise-making family that produced sponsor. By the 1640s, English responsible meant “answerable,” especially when an action had consequences; by the 1690s, it had acquired the warmer sense “reliable” or “trustworthy.” Picture a medieval official being summoned to explain a missing payment: responsibility was not merely good behavior but the obligation to show up and give an account. The useful legal distinction survives today: responsible describes the condition of being answerable, while liable more properly describes the actual obligation after a wrong has occurred. Remember the hidden scene inside the word: to be responsible is to have made a pledge—and to be ready when the world calls for your answer.
Modern usage
Used humorously or sarcastically for someone expected to do chores or behave maturely, especially unlike a teenager.
- Heard in
- informal family humor
Words from the same roots
re- · Latin, ‘back, again, or in return’
Derivedrespond, reaction, reciprocate, refund, receive
spondere · Latin, ‘to pledge, promise, or guarantee’
Derivedsponsor, respond, response, responsibility, spouse
Sources
- Etymonlineresponsible, re-, response, pledge, wait
- Urban Dictionaryresponsible
- Wiktionaryresponsible, re-, response