Definitions for DUTY
ˈdu ti, ˈdyu-du·ty

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. duty, responsibility, obligationnoun

   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. dutynoun

   work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons

   "the duties of the job"

3. duty, tariffnoun

   a government tax on imports or exports

   "they signed a treaty to lower duties on trade between their countries"

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. dutynoun

   That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.

2. dutynoun

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

   I'm on duty from 6 pm to 6 am.

3. dutynoun

   describing a workload as to its idle, working and de-energized periods.

4. dutynoun

   A tax placed on imports or exports; a tariff.

5. dutynoun

   One's due, something one is owed; a debt or fee.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dutynoun

   Etymology: from due.

   1. That to which a man is by any natural or legal obligation bound.

   When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded, you say we are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. Lu. xvii. 10.

   Good my lord,
   You have begot me, bred me, lov’d me: I
   Return those duties back, as are right fit;
   Obey you, love you, and most honour you. William Shakespeare, K. Lear.

   The pain children feel from any necessity of nature, it is the duty of parents to relieve. John Locke.

   2. Acts or forbearances required by religion or morality.

   All our duty is set down in our prayers, because in all our duty we beg the Divine Assistance; and remember that you are bound to do all those duties, for the doing of which you have prayed for the Divine Assistance. Jeremy Taylor, Devotion.

   3. Obedience or submission due to parents, governors, or superiours; loyalty; piety to parents.

   Thinkest thou that duty shall have dread to speak,
   When pow’r to flatt’ry bows? To plainness honour
   Is bound, when majesty to folly falls. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   God’s party will appear small, and the king’s not greater; it being not probable, that those should have sense of duty to him that had none to God. Decay of Piety.

   4. Act of reverence or respect.

   They both attone;
   Did duty to their lady as became. Fairy Queen, b. ii.

   5. The business of a soldier on guard.

   The regiment did duty there punctually. Edward Hyde, b. viii.

   Otho bribed his guards at a high rate; for as often as Galba supped with him, he used to give every soldier upon duty an aureus. John Arbuthnot, on Coins.

   6. The business of war; service.

   The night came and severed them, all parties being tired with the duty of the day. Edward Hyde, b. viii.

   See how the madmen bleed! Behold the gains
   With which their master, love, rewards their pains!
   For sev’n long years, on duty ev’ry day,
   Lo! their obedience, and their monarch’s pay! Dryden.

   7. Tax; impost; custom; toll.

   All the wines that come down from Tuscany make their way through several duties and taxes, before they reach the port. Joseph Addison, Travels.

   Such shekels as they now shew, were the old ones in which duty was to be paid by their law. John Arbuthnot, on Coins.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Duty

   A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; Old French: deu, did, past participle of devoir; Latin: debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, especially in an honor culture. Many duties are created by law, sometimes including a codified punishment or liability for non-performance. Performing one's duty may require some sacrifice of self-interest. Cicero, an early Roman philosopher who discusses duty in his work “On Duty", suggests that duties can come from four different sources: as a result of being a human as a result of one's particular place in life (one's family, one's country, one's job) as a result of one's character as a result of one's own moral expectations for oneselfThe specific duties imposed by law or culture vary considerably, depending on jurisdiction, religion, and social normalities.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. duty

   Duty is a moral or legal obligation or task that a person is required or expected to perform or fulfill. It involves responsibility, commitment, and an awareness towards other individuals, society, or oneself.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dutynoun

   that which is due; payment

2. Dutynoun

   that which a person is bound by moral obligation to do, or refrain from doing; that which one ought to do; service morally obligatory

3. Dutynoun

   hence, any assigned service or business; as, the duties of a policeman, or a soldier; to be on duty

4. Dutynoun

   specifically, obedience or submission due to parents and superiors

5. Dutynoun

   respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage

6. Dutynoun

   the efficiency of an engine, especially a steam pumping engine, as measured by work done by a certain quantity of fuel; usually, the number of pounds of water lifted one foot by one bushel of coal (94 lbs. old standard), or by 1 cwt. (112 lbs., England, or 100 lbs., United States)

7. Dutynoun

   tax, toll, impost, or customs; excise; any sum of money required by government to be paid on the importation, exportation, or consumption of goods

8. Etymology: [From Due.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Duty

   Duty is a term that conveys a sense of moral commitment or obligation to someone or something. The moral commitment should result in action; it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition. When someone recognizes a duty, that person theoretically commits themself to its fulfillment without considering their own self-interest. This is not to suggest that living a life of duty entirely precludes a life of leisure; however, its fulfillment generally involves some sacrifice of immediate self-interest. Typically, "the demands of justice, honor, and reputation are deeply bound up" with duty. Cicero, an early philosopher who discusses duty in his work “On Duty", suggests that duties can come from four different sources: ⁕as result of being human ⁕as a result of one's particular place in life ⁕as a result of one's character ⁕as a result of one's own moral expectations for oneself Various derivative uses of the word have sprung from the root idea of obligation, a concept involved in the notion of duty; thus it is used in the services performed by a minister of a church, by a soldier, or by any employee or servant.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Duty

   dū′ti, n. that which is due: what one is bound by any obligation to do: obedience: military service: respect or regard: one's proper business: tax on goods.—adj. Dū′teous, devoted to duty: obedient.—adv. Dū′teously.—n. Dū′teousness.—adjs. Dū′tiable, subject to custom duty; Dū′tied, subjected to duties and customs; Dū′tiful, attentive to duty: respectful: expressive of a sense of duty.—adv. Dū′tifully.—n. Dū′tifulness.—adj. Dū′ty-free, free from tax or duty. [Formed from Anglo-Fr. deu or due (mod. Fr. dú) and suffix -ty. See Due (1).]

The Roycroft DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. duty

   A pleasure which we try to make ourselves believe is a hardship.

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. duty

   The exercise of those functions which belong to the service, and are carried out from the highest to the lowest.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. duty

   There is no word oftener used in military parlance than this. In the technical sense it refers to the various services necessary for the maintenance, discipline, and regulation of armies,—as signal duty, staff duty, the duties of a sentinel, etc. To be on duty is to be in the active exercise of military functions; to be off duty is to have these functions temporarily suspended; to be put on duty is to be assigned to duty by order of a superior. Military duties are variously classed as duties of detail, which are recurring and governed by a roster, such as guard, fatigue, etc.; special duties which are determined by appointment, selection, or order; extra duty, continuous special duty of enlisted men, entitling them to pay; daily duty, short terms of special service for enlisted men. In a higher and broader sense duty is that which is due one’s country. It covers all the soldier’s obligations, and forms his simplest and sublimest rule of action.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. duty

   A moral act or action.

   We have a duty to each other on planet earth and use or love and unity to create optimum health, human rights, just, fair, transparent and honest solutions for all of humanity.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on March 12, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. DUTY

   What does DUTY stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the DUTY acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. DUTY

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Duty is ranked #7138 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Duty surname appeared 4,685 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 would have the surname Duty.
   
   89.4% or 4,192 total occurrences were White.
   4.6% or 219 total occurrences were Black.
   2.2% or 107 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   1.9% or 89 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   0.9% or 43 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
   0.7% or 35 total occurrences were Asian.

Matched Categories

1. • Indirect Tax
   • Work

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'DUTY' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1268

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'DUTY' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1724

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'DUTY' in Nouns Frequency: #370

How to pronounce DUTY?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say DUTY in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of DUTY in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of DUTY in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of DUTY in a Sentence

1. Vladimir Putin:

   As for the Minsk agreements, are they alive and do they have any prospect or not ? i believe that there is simply no other alternative. I repeat once again, in Kyiv, they either say that they will comply, or they say that this will destroy their country. The incumbent president recently stated that he does not like a single point of these Minsk agreements. ' Like it or don't like it, it's your duty, my beauty.' They must be fulfilled. It won't work otherwise.

2. Rudy Giuliani:

   I have n’t talked to an on-duty The FBI agent, except for background checks, in a couple of years. That information he’s talking about came from retired The FBI agents who were speculating about what was going to go on. We knew it would blow up, what I was talking about in terms of surprise was a speech we were preparing for the president to give on the Friday before the election like Ronald Reagan did, we were going to probably buy it Election Day before, go on national television and we were going to hit Hillary on all of that stuff. I was as surprised as anyone. The FBI investigated The FBI, closed The FBI and I showed them documentary evidence of what I ’m saying.

3. George Washington:

   To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country.

4. Nikos Kazantzakis:

   What, then is our duty It is to carefully distinguish the historic moment in which we live and to consciously assign our small energies to a specific battlefield. The more we are in phase with the current which leads the way, the more we aid man in his difficult, uncertain, danger-fraught ascent toward salvation.

5. Mika Brzezinski:

   Watching a wife and mother be humiliated on national television for her looks is deplorable. I have experienced insults about my appearance from the president. All women have a duty to unite when these attacks happen and the WHCA owes Sarah an apology.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=DUTY
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Duty
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=DUTY
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/DUTY
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=DUTY
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=DUTY
9. ^ The Roycroft Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36566/36566-h/36566-h.htm#:~:text=DUTY
10. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=DUTY
11. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html
12. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
    https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html