duty

duty
/dooh"tee, dyooh"-/, n., pl. duties.
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.
7. Mil.
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. Com. 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 Brit. tax: income duty.
11. Mach.
a. the amount of work done by an engine per unit amount of fuel consumed.
b. the measure of effectiveness of any machine.
12. Agric. the amount of water necessary to provide for the crop in a given area.
13. Baby Talk. bowel movement.
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.
[1250-1300; ME du(e)te < AF duete. See DUE, -TY2]
Syn. 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.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • duty — du·ty n pl du·ties [Anglo French deuté indebtedness, obligation, from deu owing, due, from Old French see due] 1: tasks, service, or functions that arise from one s position performing a police officer s duties; also: a period of being on duty… …   Law dictionary

  • Duty — • The definition of the term duty given by lexicographers is: something that is due , obligatory service ; something that one is bound to perform or to avoid Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Duty     Duty …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Duty — Du ty, n.; pl. {Duties}. [From {Due}.] 1. That which is due; payment. [Obs. as signifying a material thing.] [1913 Webster] When thou receivest money for thy labor or ware, thou receivest thy duty. Tyndale. [1913 Webster] 2. That which a person… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • DUTY — DUTY, an action that one is obligated to perform; a feeling, or sense, of obligation. In Judaism man s duties are determined by God s commandments. The entire biblical and rabbinic conception of man s role in the world is subsumed under the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • duty — [do͞ot′ē, dyo͞ot′ē] n. pl. duties [ME duete < Anglo Fr dueté, what is due (owing): see DUE & TY1] 1. the obedience or respect that one should show toward one s parents, older people, etc. 2. conduct based on moral or legal obligation, or a… …   English World dictionary

  • Duty — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Duty Álbum de estudio de Ayumi Hamasaki Publicación …   Wikipedia Español

  • Duty — Album par Ayumi Hamasaki Sortie 27 septembre 2000 Durée 51:45 Genre …   Wikipédia en Français

  • duty — [n1] responsibility, assignment burden, business, calling, charge, chore, commission, commitment, committal, contract, devoir, dues, engagement, function, hook*, job, load, millstone*, minding the store*, mission, must, need, obligation,… …   New thesaurus

  • duty — ► NOUN (pl. duties) 1) a moral or legal obligation. 2) a task required as part of one s job. 3) a payment levied on the import, export, manufacture, or sale of goods. 4) Brit. a payment levied on the transfer of property, for licences, and for… …   English terms dictionary

  • duty — late 13c., from Anglo Fr. duete, from O.Fr. deu due, owed; proper, just, from V.L. *debutus, from L. debitus, pp. of debere to owe (see DEBT (Cf. debt)). Related: Duties. The sense of tax or fee on imports, exports, etc. is from late 15c.; duty… …   Etymology dictionary

  • duty — 1 Obligation Analogous words: responsibility, accountability, amenability, answerability, liability (see corresponding adjectives at RESPONSIBLE) 2 office, *function, province Analogous words: concern, business, *affair 3 *task …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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