duty

English Online Dictionary. What means duty‎? What does duty mean?

English

Alternative forms

• dutie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English duete, from Middle English dewe + Middle English -te. Equivalent to due + -ty.

Pronunciation

• enPR: dyōōtē, IPA^(key): /ˈdjuː.ti/
• (yod-coalescence) enPR: jōōtē, IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒuː.ti/, /ˈd͡ʒʉː.ti/
• (yod-dropping) enPR: dōōtē, IPA^(key): /ˈdu.ti/, /ˈdu.ɾi/
• Rhymes: -uːti
• Homophone: doody (for some speakers)

Noun

duty (countable and uncountable, plural duties)

1. (countable, uncountable) That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.
   • 1805, 21 October, Horatio Nelson

     England expects that every man will do his duty.
2. (uncountable) The state of being at work and responsible for or doing a particular task.

3. (countable) A tax placed on imports or exports; a tariff.

   customs duty; excise duty

4. (obsolete) One's due, something one is owed; a debt or fee.
5. (obsolete) Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.
6. (engineering) The efficiency of an engine in work done per unit of fuel; particularly, the number of pounds of water which a steam pumping engine can raise one foot by burning one bushel or hundredweight of coal.
7. (euphemistic) The act of urination or defecation, especially for a dog.

Synonyms

• (that which one is obligated to do): obligation

Antonyms

• duty-free (taxes)
• (antonym(s) of “that which one is obligated to do”): right

Derived terms

Related terms

• due

Collocations

Translations

Further reading

• “duty”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “duty”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “duty”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdu.tɨ/
• Rhymes: -utɨ
• Syllabification: du‧ty

Participle

duty

1. past passive participle of duś

Declension