Etymology
From liable, from Old French lier (to bind), from Latin ligare (to bind, to tie), + -ity.
Noun
liability (countable and uncountable, plural liabilities)
- An obligation, debt, or responsibility owed to someone.
- (accounting) Any item recorded on the right-hand side of a balance sheet.
- A handicap that holds something back, a drawback, someone or something that is a burden to whoever is required to take care of them; an individual or action that exposes others to greater risk.
- The likelihood of something happening.
- The condition of being susceptible to something.
Derived terms
- alternative liability
- current liability
- enterprise liability
- liability insurance
- limited liability
- limited liability company
- private limited liability company
- public limited liability company
- secondary liability
- strict liability
- vicarious liability
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors copied and adjusted this Wiktionary entry in accordance with NWE standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit for this article is due to both New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions at Wiktionary is accessible to researchers here:
