different between incumbent vs responsibility

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from stem incumbent-, of Medieval Latin incumb?ns (“holder of a church position”), from Latin present participle of incumb? (“I lie down upon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?k?mb?nt/

Adjective

incumbent (comparative more incumbent, superlative most incumbent)

1. Imposed on someone as an obligation, especially due to one's office.
   • December 22 1678, Thomas Sprat, A Sermon Preached before the King at White-Hall

     all men truly Zelous , will […] endeavor to perform the first kind of good Works alwaies; those, I mean, that are incumbent on all Christians

2. Lying; resting; reclining; recumbent.
   • 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture

     two incumbent figures, gracefully leaning upon it

   • to move the incumbent load they try

3. Prevalent, prevailing, predominant.
4. (botany, geology) Resting on something else; in botany, said of anthers when lying on the inner side of the filament, or of cotyledons when the radicle lies against the back of one of them.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gray to this entry?)

5. (zoology) Bent downwards so that the ends touch, or rest on, something else.

6. Being the current holder of an office or a title.

Derived terms

• incumbency

Translations

Noun

incumbent (plural incumbents)

1. The current holder of an office, such as ecclesiastical benefice or an elected office.
   • 2012, The Economist, October 6, 2012 issue, The first presidential debate: Back in the centre, back in the game

     Mr Obama’s problems were partly structural. An incumbent must defend the realities and compromises of government, while a challenger is freer to promise the earth, details to follow. Mr Obama’s odd solution was to play both incumbent and challenger, jumping from a defence of his record to indignation at such ills as over-crowded classrooms and tax breaks for big oil companies.

2. (business) A holder of a position as supplier to a market or market segment that allows the holder to earn above-normal profits.
   • 2012, The Economist, September 29 2012 issue, Schumpeter: Fixing the capitalist machine

     American capitalism is becoming like its European cousin: established firms with the scale and scope to deal with a growing thicket of regulations are doing well, but new companies are withering on the vine or selling themselves to incumbents.

Translations

See also

• incumbent on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Latin

Verb

incumbent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of incumb?

English

Etymology

From responsible +? -ity. Although the components are of French origin, the compound appears to have been formed in English. Later-attested French responsabilité is modeled on the English word, and Italian responsabilità is in turn modeled on the French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???sp?ns??b?l??i/

Noun

responsibility (countable and uncountable, plural responsibilities)

1. The state of being responsible, accountable, or answerable. [from 18th c.]

   Responsibility is a heavy burden.

2. The state of being liable, culpable, or responsible for something in particular.
3. A duty, obligation or liability for which someone is held accountable.

   Why didn't you clean the house? That was your responsibility!

   The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not to dominate the world - Harry S. Truman

   • 1961 May 9, Newton N. Minow, "Television and the Public Interest":

     If parents, teachers, and ministers conducted their responsibilities by following the ratings, children would have a steady diet of ice cream, school holidays, and no Sunday school.

4. (military) The obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion. With responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success.
5. (military) The obligation for the proper custody, care, and safekeeping of property or funds entrusted to the possession or supervision of an individual.

Synonyms

• responsibleness (may be considered nonstandard)

Related terms

• see respond

Translations

See also

• accountability

References

• responsibility at OneLook Dictionary Search
• responsibility in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• responsibility in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• responsibility in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928) , “Responsibility”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VIII, Part 1 (Q–R), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 542, column 2.
• Feltus, C.; Petit, M. (2009). "Building a Responsibility Model Including Accountability, Capability and Commitment", Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ( IEEE ), Fukuoka, 2009. Building a Responsibility Model Including Accountability, Capability and Commitment