duty

See also: Duty and dutý

English

Alternative forms

• dutie (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdjuː.ti/, /ˈd͡ʒuː.ti/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdu.ti/, [ˈdu.ɾi]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʉː.ti/
• 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.

   We don't have a duty to keep you here.

   • 1805, 21 October, Horatio Nelson

     England expects that every man will do his duty.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Captain Edward Carlisle […] felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, […]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.

   • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

     Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.

   • 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.

2. (uncountable) The state of being at work and responsible for or doing a particular task.

   I’m on duty from 6 pm to 6 am.

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.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:

     Take that which is thy duty, and goo thy waye.

5. (obsolete) Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     my duty to you

   • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

     It [the letter] was written with a plain, unaffected, homely piety that I knew to be genuine, and ended with ‘my duty to my ever darling’—meaning myself.

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.
   • 1927, Will Judy, “Housebreaking”, in Training the Dog, page 23:

     The basic idea in housebreaking is not to wait until the puppy sins and then punish him; it is to call nature to your aid and thus make it easy for him to do his duty.

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

• active duty
• call of duty
• chimney-duty
• civic duty
• countervailing duty
• customs duty
• death duty
• Delivered Duty Paid
• Delivered Duty Unpaid
• do one's duty
• duteous
• dutiable
• dutied
• dutiful (adjective)
• dutiless
• duty ace
• duty-bound
• dutybound
• duty bound
• duty calls
• duty card
• duty cycle
• duty-free
• dutyless
• dutyman
• duty-man
• duty man
• duty manager
• duty of care
• duty officer
• duty of support
• duty roster
• duty solicitor
• duty to retreat
• estate duty
• excise duty
• export duty
• extra-duty
• fatigue duty
• feu duty
• feu-duty
• fiduciary duty
• filial duty
• heavy-duty
• home duty
• import duty
• in the line of duty
• jury duty
• legal duty
• light-duty
• line of duty
• moral duty
• neglect duty
• nonduty
• off-duty
• off duty
• on-duty
• on duty
• point duty
• regular-duty
• report for duty
• Revlon duty
• scab duty
• sea duty/sea-duty
• shore duty
• stamp duty
• static separation of duty
• succession duty
• superduty
• tonnage duty
• tour of duty
• yard duty

 

Related terms

• due

Collocations

Adjectives often used with "duty"

public, private, moral, legal, social, double, civic, contractual, political, judicial, etc.

Translations

that which one is morally or legally obligated to do

• Albanian: rangë (sq) f, detyrë (sq) f
• Arabic: وَاجِب (ar) m (wājib), وَظِيفَة (ar) f (waẓīfa)

  Egyptian Arabic: واجب m (wāgib)

• Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partkʻ), պարտականություն (hy) (partakanutʻyun)
• Aromanian: dat n
• Azerbaijani: borc (az), vəzifə (az)
• Bashkir: бурыс (burıs)
• Belarusian: доўг m (doŭh), абавя́зак (be) m (abavjázak)
• Bulgarian: дълг (bg) m (dǎlg)
• Catalan: obligació (ca), deure (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 責任 / 责任 (zh) (zérèn), 義務 / 义务 (zh) (yìwù)

• Chuukese: wis
• Crimean Tatar: vazife
• Czech: povinnost (cs) f
• Danish: pligt c
• Dutch: plicht (nl) f
• Esperanto: devo
• Estonian: kohustus
• Finnish: velvollisuus (fi)
• French: devoir (fr) m, obligation (fr), service (fr)
• Galician: obriga (gl) f, obrigación (gl) m
• Georgian: მოვალეობა (movaleoba), ვალდებულება (valdebuleba)
• German: Pflicht (de) f
• Greek: καθήκον (el) n (kathíkon), υποχρέωση (el) f (ypochréosi)
• Hebrew: חוֹבָה (he) f (khova)
• Hindi: कृत्य (hi) m (kŕtya), कर्तव्य (hi) m (kartavya)
• Hungarian: kötelesség (hu)
• Icelandic: kvöð (is) f, skylda (is) f
• Irish: dualgas (ga) m
• Italian: dovere (it) m, obbligo (it) m
• Japanese: 義務 (ja) (ぎむ, gimu), 勤め (ja) (つとめ, tsutome), 役目 (ja) (やくめ, yakume), 服務 (ja) (ふくむ, fukumu)
• Kazakh: борыш (boryş), парыз (paryz), міндет (mındet)
• Korean: 의무(義務) (ko) (uimu), 임무(任務) (ko) (immu), 근무(勤務) (ko) (geunmu), 업무(業務) (ko) (eommu)
• Kyrgyz: милдет (ky) (mildet)
• Latin: dēbitum n, iūs (la) n, mūnus (la) n, officium (la) n, pars (la)
• Latvian: pienākums (lv) m
• Lithuanian: pareiga f
• Low German: Plicht
• Macedonian: должност f (dolžnost)
• Malayalam: കടമ (ml) (kaṭama)
• Maltese: dmir m
• Maori: tiuti
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: суудал (mn) (suudal)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: plikt (no) m or f

• Occitan: obligacion (oc), dever (oc) m
• Old English: pleoh n
• Ottoman Turkish: اصر (ısr)
• Persian: تکلیف (fa) (taklif), وظیفه (fa) (vazife)
• Plautdietsch: Flicht f
• Polish: obowiązek (pl) m
• Portuguese: dever (pt) m, obrigação (pt) f
• Romanian: datorie (ro) f
• Russian: долг (ru) m (dolg), обя́занность (ru) f (objázannostʹ)
• Sanskrit: कर्तव्य (sa) (kartavya), धर्म (sa) (dharma)
• Sardinian: dovère m, òbrigu m
• Scottish Gaelic: còir f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ду́жно̄ст f, задуже́ње n

  Roman: dúžnōst (sh) f, zadužénje (sh) n

• Slovak: povinnosť f
• Slovene: dolžnost f
• Somali: waajib
• Spanish: deber (es) m, obligación (es) f, cometido (es), menester (es)
• Swahili: zamu (sw)
• Swedish: plikt (sv) c, skyldighet (sv) c
• Tajik: вазифа (tg) (vazifa)
• Thai: กิจ (th) (kìt), งาน (th) (ngaan), หน้าที่ (th) (nâa-tîi)
• Turkish: görev (tr), vazife (tr)
• Ukrainian: борг (uk) m (borh), обо́в'язок (uk) m (obóvʺjazok)
• Uzbek: burch (uz), vazifa (uz)
• Vietnamese: nhiệm vụ (vi) (任務), trách nhiệm (vi) (責任), chức trách (vi) (職責), nghĩa vụ (vi) (義務), chức vụ (vi) (職務)
• Zazaki: wezife (diq) c

period of time

• Armenian: հերթափոխ (hy) (hertʻapʻox)
• Bulgarian: дежу́рство (bg) n (dežúrstvo)
• Catalan: servei (ca)
• Czech: služba (cs) f
• Danish: tjeneste (da) c
• Dutch: van dienst m
• Finnish: työvuoro (fi)
• French: travail (fr) m
• Georgian: მორიგეობა (morigeoba), ცვლა (cvla), ვახტი (vaxṭi)
• German: Schicht (de) f, Arbeitszeit (de) f
• Greek: βάρδια (el) f (várdia)
• Hungarian: szolgálat (hu)
• Italian: servizio (it) m, attività (it) f
• Macedonian: должност f (dolžnost), смена f (smena)
• Malayalam: ജോലിസമയം (jōlisamayaṁ)
• Polish: służba (pl) f
• Portuguese: plantão (pt) m
• Romanian: sarcină (ro)
• Russian: дежу́рство (ru) n (dežúrstvo), сме́на (ru) f (sména)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ду́жно̄ст f, слу̀жба f

  Roman: dúžnōst (sh) f, slùžba (sh) f

• Swedish: tjänst (sv) c
• Turkish: çalışma süresi (tr), vardiya (tr)

tax; tariff

• Albanian: taksë dogane f
• Armenian: մաքս (hy) (makʻs), մաքսատուրք (hy) (makʻsaturkʻ)

  Old Armenian: հարկ (hark), տուրք (turkʻ), բաժ (baž)

• Azerbaijani: rüsum
• Belarusian: мы́та f (mýta), по́шліна f (póšlina), збор (be) m (zbor)
• Bulgarian: ми́то (bg) n (míto)
• Catalan: taxa (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 稅 / 税 (zh) (shuì), 關稅 / 关税 (zh) (guānshuì)

• Crimean Tatar: bergi
• Czech: clo (cs) n
• Danish: told (da) c
• Dutch: taks (nl) m
• Esperanto: tarifo, dogano
• Estonian: tollimaks
• Faroese: tollur m
• Finnish: tullimaksu (fi)
• French: taxe (fr) f
• German: Zoll (de) m, Einfuhrsteuer f
• Greek: δασμός (el) m (dasmós)
• Hindi: कर (hi) (kar)
• Hungarian: vám (hu)
• Italian: tassa (it) f, dazio (it) m, gabella (it) f, tributo (it) m, imposta (it) f, balzello (it) m
• Japanese: 関税 (ja) (かんぜい, kanzei), 税金 (ja) (ぜいきん, zeikin),
• Kazakh: баж (kk) (baj)
• Korean: 관세(關稅) (ko) (gwanse), 세금(稅金) (ko) (segeum)
• Latin: indictiō f, portōrium n, vectīgal n, illātiō f
• Lithuanian: muitas m
• Macedonian: царина f (carina)
• Malayalam: തീരുവ (ml) (tīruva)
• Maori: tiuti, tāke taonga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хураамж (mn) (xuraamž)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: toll (no) m

  Nynorsk: toll m

• Ottoman Turkish: رسم (resm, resim)
• Polish: cło (pl) n
• Portuguese: imposto (pt) m, taxa (pt) f
• Romanian: taxă (ro) f, impozit (ro) n, datorie (ro) f
• Russian: по́шлина (ru) f (póšlina), налог (ru) m (nalog), сбор (ru) m (sbor)
• Scottish Gaelic: cìs f, càin f
• Spanish: arancel (es) m
• Swedish: tull (sv) c, tullavgift (sv) c
• Turkish: gümrük (tr), ithal vergisi
• Tuvan: каайлы (kaaylı)
• Ukrainian: ми́то n (mýto), збір m (zbir)
• Vietnamese: thuế quan (vi) (稅關), hải quan (vi) (海關)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} kohus (et), ^{(please verify)} kohustus, ^{(please verify)} toll (et), ^{(please verify)} teenistuskohustus

Further reading

• “duty”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “duty”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “duty”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdutɨ]

Participle

duty

1. past passive participle of duś

Declension

Declension of duty

	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Neuter singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	duty	duta	dute	dutej	dute
Genitive	dutego	duteje	dutego	duteju	dutych
Dative	dutemu	dutej	dutemu	dutyma	dutym
Accusative	duty dutego (animate)	dutu	dute	dutej duteju (animate)	dute dutych (optional animate form)
Instrumental	dutym	duteju	dutym	dutyma	dutymi
Locative	dutem	dutej	dutem	dutyma	dutych