duty

See also dutý

English

Etymology

From Middle English duete, from Old French deu (“due”), past participle of devoir (“to owe”), from Latin debere (“to owe”), from de (“from”) + habere (“to have”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈdjuːti/
• (US) IPA: /duːɾi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːti

Noun

duty (plural duties)

1. That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.

   England expects that every man will do his duty. (Nelson)

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

2. A period of time spent at work or doing a particular task.

   I’m on duty from 6 pm to 6 am.

3. describing a workload as to its idle, working and de-energized periods.
4. A tax placed on imports or exports; a tariff.
5. (obsolete) One's due, something one is owed; a debt or fee.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XX:

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

Usage notes

• Adjectives often used with "duty": public, private, moral, legal, social, double, civic, contractual, political, judicial, etc.

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

• duty-free (taxes)
• (that which one is obligated to do): right

Derived terms

Derived terms

active duty chimney-duty civic duty death duty Delivered Duty Paid Delivered Duty Unpaid dutiable dutiful a duty-bound duty calls duty cycle duty of care estate duty excise duty export duty fatigue duty

fiduciary duty filial duty heavy-duty import duty jury duty legal duty light-duty line of duty neglect duty on duty off duty point duty sea duty/sea-duty shore duty stamp duty succession duty tonnage duty tour of duty

Related terms

• due

Translations

that which one is morally or legally obligated to do

• Albanian: detyra (sq), detyrë (sq) f
• Arabic: واجب (ar) (wājib) m
• Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partk’)
• Belarusian: доўг (be) (doŭh) m, абавязак (be) (abavjázak) m
• Bulgarian: дълг (bg) (dǎlg) m
• Catalan: obligació (ca), deure (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 責任 (cmn), 责任 (cmn) (zérèn), 義務 (cmn), 义务 (cmn) (yìwù)

• Crimean Tatar: vazife
• Czech: povinnost (cs) f
• Danish: pligt (da) c
• Dutch: plicht (nl) f
• Esperanto: devo (eo)
• Estonian: kohustus (et)
• Finnish: velvollisuus (fi)
• French: devoir (fr) m, obligation (fr), service (fr)
• Georgian: მოვალეობა (ka) (movaleoba)
• German: Pflicht (de) f
• Greek: καθήκον (el) (kathíkon) n
• Hebrew: חובה (he) (khova) f
• Hindi: शुल्क (hi) (śulka) f
• Hungarian: kötelesség (hu)
• Icelandic: kvöð (is) f, skylda (is) f
• Italian: dovere (it) m
• Japanese: 義務 (ja) (ぎむ, gimu)
• Korean: 의무 (ko) (uimu) (義務 (ko))

• Latin: dēbitum (la) n, iūs (la) n, mūnus (la) n, officium (la) n
• Latvian: pienākums (lv) m
• Lithuanian: pareiga (lt) f
• Low German: Plicht (nds)
• Macedonian: должност (mk) (dólžnost) f
• Malayalam: കടമ (ml) (kadama)
• Norwegian: plikt (no) m
• Old English: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: تکلیف (fa), وظیفه (fa) (vazife)
• Polish: obowiązek (pl) m
• Portuguese: dever (pt) m, obrigação (pt) f
• Romanian: datorie (ro) f
• Russian: долг (ru) (dolg) m, обязанность (ru) (objázannost’) f
• Sanskrit: कर्तव्य (sa) (kartavya), धर्म (sa) (dharma)
• Scottish Gaelic: còir (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дужност (sh) f, задужење (sh) n

  Roman: dužnost (sh) f, zaduženje (sh) n

• Slovene: dolžnost (sl) f
• Spanish: deber (es) m, obligación (es) f
• Swahili: zamu (sw)
• Swedish: plikt (sv) c
• Thai: กิจ (th) (kìt), งาน (th) (ŋaan)
• Turkish: görev (tr)
• Ukrainian: борг (uk) (borh) m, обов'язок (uk) (obov'jázok) m
• Vietnamese: nhiệm vụ (vi)

period of time

• Armenian: հերթափոխ (hy) (hert'ap'ox)
• Bulgarian: дежурство (bg) (dežurstvo) n
• Catalan: servei (ca)
• Czech: služba (cs) f
• Danish: tjeneste (da) c
• Dutch: van dienst (nl) m
• Finnish: työvuoro (fi)
• French: travail (fr) m

• German: Schicht (de) f, Arbeitszeit (de) f
• Macedonian: должност (mk) (dólžnost) f, смена (mk) (sména) f
• Malayalam: ജോലിസമയം (ml) (jOlisamayam)
• Polish: służba (pl) f
• Portuguese: plantão (pt) m
• Russian: дежурство (ru) (dežúrstvo) n, смена (ru) (sména) f
• Serbo-Croatian: dúžnōst (sh) f, slùžba (sh) f
• Swedish: tjänst (sv) c

tax; tariff

• Armenian: մաքս (hy) (mak’s)

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

• Bulgarian: мито (bg) (mito) n
• Catalan: taxa (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 稅, simpl. 稅 (shuì)

• Crimean Tatar: bergi
• Czech: clo (cs) n
• Danish: told (da) c
• Dutch: taks (nl) m
• Estonian: tollimaks (et)
• Finnish: tullimaksu (fi)
• French: taxe (fr) f
• German: Zoll (de) m, Einfuhrsteuer (de) f

• Greek: δασμός (el) (dasmós) m
• Italian: tassa (it) f, dazio (it) m
• Japanese: 関税(かんぜい, kanzei)
• Latin: indictiō (la) f, portōrium (la) n, vectīgal (la) n, illātiō (la) f
• Macedonian: царина (mk) (cárina) f
• Malayalam: തീരുവ (ml) (theeruva)
• Norwegian: avgift (no) m
• Polish: cło (pl) n
• Portuguese: imposto (pt) m, taxa (pt) f
• Russian: пошлина (ru) (póšlina) f
• Scottish Gaelic: cìs (gd) f, càin (gd) f
• Spanish: arancel (es) m
• Swedish: tull (sv) c, tullavgift (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Estonian: kohus; kohustus; toll; teenistuskohustus

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: chief · company · sweet · #613: duty · heavy · single · foot

External links

• duty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• duty in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• duty at OneLook Dictionary Search