Duty - Definitions from Dictionary.com

9 results for: Duty

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

du·ty

Audio Help [doo-tee, dyoo-] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ties.

1.	something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.

2.	the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right; moral or legal obligation.

3.	an action or task required by a person's position or occupation; function: the duties of a clergyman.

4.	the respectful and obedient conduct due a parent, superior, elder, etc.

5.	an act or expression of respect.

6.	a task or chore that a person is expected to perform: It's your duty to do the dishes.

Military.

a.	an assigned task, occupation, or place of service: He was on radar duty for two years.

b.	the military service required of a citizen by a country: After graduation, he began his duty.

8.	Commerce. a specific or ad valorem tax imposed by law on the import or export of goods.

9.	a payment, service, etc., imposed and enforceable by law or custom.

10.	Chiefly British. tax: income duty.

11.

Machinery.

a.	the amount of work done by an engine per unit amount of fuel consumed.

b.	the measure of effectiveness of any machine.

12.	Agriculture. the amount of water necessary to provide for the crop in a given area.

13.	Baby Talk. bowel movement.

—Idioms

14.	do duty, to serve the same function; substitute for: bookcases that do duty as room dividers.

15.	off duty, not at one's post or work; at liberty: They spent their days off duty in hiking and fishing.

16.	on duty, at one's post or work; occupied; engaged: He was suspended from the force for being drunk while on duty.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME du(e)te < AF duete. See due, -ty²

]

—Synonyms 1. Duty, obligation refer to what one feels bound to do. Duty is what one performs, or avoids doing, in fulfillment of the permanent dictates of conscience, piety, right, or law: duty to one's country; one's duty to tell the truth, to raise children properly. An obligation is what one is bound to do to fulfill the dictates of usage, custom, or propriety, and to carry out a particular, specific, and often personal promise or agreement: financial obligations. 3. responsibility, business. 4. deference.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Duty

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

du·ty Audio Help (dōō'tē, dyōō'-) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. du·ties

An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion: Do your duty to your country.
1. Moral obligation: acting out of duty.
2. The compulsion felt to meet such obligation.
3. The work performed by a machine under specified conditions.
4. A measure of efficiency expressed as the amount of work done per unit of energy used.
A service, function, or task assigned to one, especially in the armed forces: hazardous duty.
Function or work; service: jury duty. See Synonyms at function.
A tax charged by a government, especially on imports.
1. The work performed by a machine under specified conditions.
2. A measure of efficiency expressed as the amount of work done per unit of energy used.
The total volume of water required to irrigate a given area in order to cultivate a specific crop until harvest.

[Middle English duete, from Anglo-Norman, from due, variant of Old French deu, due; see due.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
duty

1297, from Anglo-Fr. duete, from O.Fr. deu "due, owed," from V.L. *debutus, from L. debitus, pp. of debere "to owe." The sense of "tax or fee in imports, exports, etc." is from 1474; duty-free as a noun is attested from 1958.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

duty
noun
1.	the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force; "we must instill a sense of duty in our children"; "every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty"- John D.Rockefeller Jr
2.	work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons; "the duties of the job"
3.	a government tax on imports or exports; "they signed a treaty to lower duties on trade between their countries"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
duty1 [ˈdjuːti] noun — plural ˈduties

what one ought morally or legally to do
Example: He acted out of duty; I do my duty as a responsible citizen.

Arabic:	واجِب
Chinese (Simplified):	责任
Chinese (Traditional):	責任
Czech:	povinnost
Danish:	pligt
Dutch:	plicht
Estonian:	kohus
Finnish:	velvollisuus
French:	devoir
German:	die Pflicht
Greek:	υποχρέωση, χρέος
Hungarian:	kötelesség
Icelandic:	skylda
Indonesian:	tugas
Italian:	dovere

Japanese:	義務
Latvian:	pienākums
Lithuanian:	pareiga
Norwegian:	plikt
Polish:	obowiązek
Portuguese (Brazil):	dever
Portuguese (Portugal):	dever
Romanian:	datorie
Russian:	долг
Slovak:	povinnosť
Slovenian:	dolžnost
Spanish:	deber
Swedish:	plikt
Turkish:	görev, yükümlülük, sorumluluk

duty2 [ˈdjuːti] noun

an action or task requiring to be done, especially one attached to a job
Example: I had a few duties to perform in connection with my job.

Arabic:	مُهِمَّه، فَرْض
Chinese (Simplified):	任务
Chinese (Traditional):	任務
Czech:	úkol
Danish:	opgave; hverv
Dutch:	taak
Estonian:	kohustus
Finnish:	tehtävä, velvollisuus
French:	obligation
German:	die Aufgabe
Greek:	καθήκον
Hungarian:	kötelesség
Icelandic:	skylduverk
Indonesian:	kewajiban
Italian:	obbligo

Japanese:	務め
Latvian:	pienākums
Lithuanian:	pareiga
Norwegian:	oppgave, plikt, verv
Polish:	obowiązek
Portuguese (Brazil):	dever
Portuguese (Portugal):	obrigação
Romanian:	obligaţie
Russian:	обязанность
Slovak:	úloha
Slovenian:	obveznost
Spanish:	obligación
Swedish:	åliggande, uppgift, göromål
Turkish:	görev, vazife

duty3 [ˈdjuːti] noun

(a) tax on goods
Example: You must pay duty when you bring wine into the country.

Arabic:	رَسْم، ضَريبَه
Chinese (Simplified):	税
Chinese (Traditional):	稅
Czech:	clo
Danish:	told; afgift
Dutch:	belasting
Estonian:	tollimaks
Finnish:	vero, tulli
French:	taxe
German:	der Zoll
Greek:	φόρος, δασμός
Hungarian:	vám
Icelandic:	gjald, tollur
Indonesian:	pajak
Italian:	tassa

Japanese:	税
Latvian:	nodeva; nodoklis
Lithuanian:	muitas
Norwegian:	toll, avgift
Polish:	cło
Portuguese (Brazil):	taxa
Portuguese (Portugal):	taxa
Romanian:	taxă
Russian:	пошлина
Slovak:	clo
Slovenian:	carina
Spanish:	impuesto
Swedish:	skatt, tull
Turkish:	vergi, gümrük vergisi