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duty.

That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈdjuː.ti//ˈd͡ʒuː.ti//ˈdu.ti//ˈdu.ɾi/
  1. That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.

    countable · uncountable
    Do your duty by me! -No, we don't have a duty to keep you abreast.
  2. The state of being at work and responsible for or doing a particular task.

    uncountable
    I’m on duty from 6 pm to 6 am.
  3. An excise tax; especially, one on imports or exports.

    countable
    customs duty
  4. One's due, something one is owed; a debt or fee.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  5. Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  6. 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.

    countable · uncountable
  7. The act of urination or defecation, especially for a dog.

    countable · euphemistic · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.