"person devoted to religious work," especially "child dedicated by his or her parents to monastic life and raised and trained in a monastery and held in monastic discipline," 1756, from Medieval Latin oblatus, noun use of Latin oblatus, variant past participle of offerre "to offer, to bring before," from ob- (see ob-) + lātus "carried, borne," used as past participle of the irregular verb ferre "to bear."

Presumably lātus was taken (by a process linguists call suppletion) from a different, pre-Latin verb. By the same process, in English, went became the past tense of go. Latin lātus is said by Watkins to be from *tlatos, from PIE root *tele- "to bear, carry" (see extol), but de Vaan says "No good etymology available."

"flattened on the ends," 1705, from Medieval Latin oblatus "flattened," from Latin ob "toward" (see ob-) + -latus, abstracted from its opposite, prolatus "lengthened," from lātus (adj.) "broad, wide, extensive, large," Old Latin stlatus, from PIE *stleto-, suffixed form of root *stel- "to put, stand, put in order" (source also of words meaning "to spread, to extend," such as Old Church Slavonic steljo "to spread out," Armenian lain "broad").

c. 1400, oblacioun, "an offering to a deity; a public ceremony of offering sacrifice; that which is sacrificed or solemnly offered to God," from Old French oblacion "offering, pious donation" and directly from Latin oblationem (nominative oblatio) "an offering, presenting, gift," in Late Latin "sacrifice," from Latin oblatus (see oblate (n.)). Related: Oblational; oblationary.

1540s, "to bind, fasten, connect," the literal sense of the Latin word, now obsolete in English; 1660s in the main modern sense of "to put under moral obligation;" a back-formation from obligation, or else from Latin obligatus, past participle of obligare "to bind, bind up, bandage," figuratively "put under obligation" (see oblige). Oblige, with which it has been confused since late 17c., means "to do one a favor." Related: Obligated; obligating.

c. 1300, obligacioun, "a binding pledge, commitment to fulfill a promise or meet conditions of a bargain," from Old French obligacion "obligation, duty, responsibility" (early 13c.) and directly from Latin obligationem (nominative obligatio) "an engaging or pledging," literally "a binding" (but rarely used in this sense), noun of action from past-participle stem of obligare "to bind, bind up, bandage," figuratively "put under obligation" (see oblige). The notion is of binding with promises or by law or duty.

The meaning "that which one is bound or obliged to do, especially by moral or legal claims a duty" is from c. 1600. That of "state or fact of being bound or constrained by gratitude to requite benefits, moral indebtedness," also is from c. 1600. Related: Obligational.

"binding in law or conscience, imposing duty, requiring performance of or forbearance from some act," c. 1400, obligatorie, from Old French obligatoire "creating an obligation, obligatory," and directly from Late Latin obligatorius "binding," from obligat-, past-participle stem of obligare "to bind, bind up, bandage," figuratively "put under obligation" (see oblige).

c. 1300, obligen, "to bind by oath, put under moral or legal obligation, devote," from Old French obligier "engage one's faith, commit (oneself), pledge" (13c.), from Latin obligare "to bind, bind up, bandage," figuratively "put under obligation," from ob "to" (see ob-) + ligare "to bind," from PIE root *leig- "to tie, bind." Main modern meaning "to make (someone) indebted by conferring a benefit or kindness" is from 1560s.

"bound by ties of gratitude," 1540s, past-participle adjective from oblige. Earlier it meant "be in bondage, be bound by (a promise, pledge, rule, etc.)," also "be liable for the payment of; be condemned" (mid-14c.).

in law, "person to whom another is bound by contract," 1570s, from oblige + -ee.

of persons, dispositions, etc., "willing to do service or favors," 1630s, present-participle adjective from oblige. Related: Obligingly.