Responsible

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈspɒnsəbəl/

Definitions

1. Accountable for one's actions or having the duty to take care of something or someone
2. Being liable for one's actions while having the obligation to care for a person or manage a situation
3. Being answerable for actions taken or having the duty to oversee or protect certain tasks, individuals, or aspects of life

Etymology: "Responsible" comes from the Latin verb "respondere," meaning "to answer" or "to respond," which is also the source of "response." The Latin past participle "responsus" gave rise to the idea of being answerable, and that sense of having to answer for something carried into Old French as "responsable." English borrowed the word from Middle French, and the spelling we use today follows the Old French variant "responsible," which is why the ending looks like the "-ible" in words such as "possible" and "visible" rather than the "-able" ending the French form suggests. The meaning shifted from answering in the literal sense to being answerable for an outcome. Someone who must answer for a deed is accountable for it, and from there the word came to describe a person who can be trusted to look after something or someone. A word that began as a verbal reply now describes the weight of owing an account of one's conduct.

Synonyms: accountable, reliable, trustworthy, dependable, answerable

Antonyms: irresponsible, unreliable, negligent, careless, reckless