duty

n., pl., -ties.

1. An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion: Do your duty to your country.
2. 1. Moral obligation: acting out of duty.
   2. The compulsion felt to meet such obligation.
3. A service, function, or task assigned to one, especially in the armed forces: hazardous duty.
4. Function or work; service: jury duty. See synonyms at function.
5. A tax charged by a government, especially on imports.
6. 1. The work performed by a machine under specified conditions.
   2. A measure of efficiency expressed as the amount of work done per unit of energy used.
7. The total volume of water required to irrigate a given area in order to cultivate a specific crop until harvest.

idioms:

duty bound

1. Obliged: You are duty bound to help your little sister and brother.

off duty

1. Not engaged in or responsible for assigned work.

on duty

1. Engaged in or responsible for assigned work.

[Middle English duete, from Anglo-Norman, from due, variant of Old French deu, due. See due.]

1. A tax levied on certain goods, services or transactions. Duties are enforceable by law and are imposed on commodities or financial transactions, instead of individuals.

2. The obligation of a person in authority, such as a fiduciary, to fulfill the responsibilities of his or her position.

Investopedia Says:
1. Duties may be revoked in certain situations, such as an airport's duty-free shop. At a duty-free shop, commodities that are usually taxed, like cigarettes and alcohol, will not have a duty levied on them. Foreign visitors will then be able to purchase the goods at a lower price compared to domestic citizens.

2. The chief executive officer of a company has a fiduciary duty to the company's shareholders. This means that any course of action the CEO takes should be in the best interested of the shareholders.

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1. Tax imposed on the importation, exportation, or consumption of goods.

2. Obligation of a Fiduciary or other person in a responsible position.

noun

1. An act or course of action that is demanded of one, as by position, custom, law, or religion: burden¹, charge, commitment, imperative, must, need, obligation, responsibility. See obligation.
2. A piece of work that has been assigned: assignment, chore, job, office, stint, task. See work/play.
3. The condition of being put to use: application, employment, service, use, utilization. See used/unused.
4. A compulsory contribution, usually of money, that is required for the support of a government: assessment, impost, levy, tariff, tax. See money, pay/owe, politics.

Idioms beginning with duty:
duty bound

In addition to the idiom beginning with duty, also see above and beyond (the call of duty); active duty do one's duty; double duty; off duty; on duty.

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n

Definition: moral obligation
Antonyms: faithlessness, inconstancy, treachery

n

Definition: responsibility, assignment
Antonyms: disregard, irresponsibility

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n

That which is due from a person; that which a person owes to another; an obligation.

engineering BI-f.p.s. An early name for foot·pound.

That which one must do, or that which can be required of one. The term carries implications of that which is owed (due) to other people, or perhaps to oneself. Universal duties would be owed to persons (or sentient beings) as such, whereas special duties arise in virtue of specific relations, such as being the child of someone, or having made someone a promise. Duty or obligation is the primary concept of deontological approaches to ethics, but is constructed in other systems out of other notions. In the system of Kant a perfect duty is one that must be performed whatever the circumstances; imperfect duties may have to give way to the more stringent ones. In another usage, perfect duties are those that are correlative with the rights of others; imperfect duties are not. Problems with the concept include the ways in which duties need to be specified (a frequent criticism of Kant is that his notion of duty is too abstract). The concept may also suggest a regimented view of ethical life, in which we are all forced conscripts in a kind of moral army, and may encourage an individualistic and antagonistic view of social relations.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A legal obligation that entails mandatory conduct or performance. With respect to the laws relating to customs duties, a tax owed to the government for the import or export of goods.

A fiduciary, such as an executor or trustee, who occupies a position of confidence in relation to a third person, owes such person a duty to render services, provide care, or perform certain acts on his or her behalf.

In the context of negligence cases, a person has a duty to comport himself or herself in a particular manner with respect to another person.

A tax charged by a government, especially on an import.

At work (on duty) or having special requirements after normal working hours. Units will have a Duty Officer, Duty NCO or Duty Driver.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

n.

That which sternly impels us in the direction of profit, along the line of desire.

    Sir Lavender Portwine, in favor at court,
    Was wroth at his master, who'd kissed Lady Port.
    His anger provoked him to take the king's head,
    But duty prevailed, and he took the king's bread,
            Instead.
                                                                  G.J.

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IN BRIEF: What a person should do because it is thought to be right, just, or moral; the action required by one's position or profession.

He believed it was his duty to his country to serve in the military.

Quotes:

"The first duty of life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one as yet discovered." - Oscar Wilde

"Oh, duty is what one expects from others, it is not what one does oneself." - Oscar Wilde

"Do something every day that you don't want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain." - Mark Twain

"Duties are not performed for duty's sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty --the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself." - Mark Twain

"For many years I was a self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms and did my duty faithfully, though I never received payment for it." - Henry David Thoreau

"It is easier to do one's duty to others than to one's self. If you do your duty to others, you are considered reliable. If you do your duty to yourself, you are considered selfish." - Thomas Szasz

See more famous quotes about Duty

To feel bound by duty in a dream may be a reflection of the dreamer's past experiences in the military. If, however, the dreamer is overly concerned with duty in their dreams, perhaps compulsive behavior or control issues are posing problems.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - pligt, moralsk forpligtelse, told, afgift, skat, ansvar, agtelse, nyttevirkning

idioms:

• duty bound    forpligtet
• on duty    i tjeneste

Nederlands (Dutch)
plicht, belasting, wacht, eerbetoon, mechanisch arbeidsvermogen, dienst

Français (French)
n. - devoir, obligation, fonction, responsabilité, (Mil, Admin, etc) de service, (Méd) de garde, (Admin, École) de jour, de service, (Fin) droit, impôt (indirect), taxe (indirecte), frais de douane

idioms:

• do duty as    remplacer qn en tant que
• do duty for    remplacer (qn)
• duty bound    obligé par le devoir
• on duty    (prendre) le service ou la garde, de service, de garde, de jour

Deutsch (German)
n. - Pflicht, Steuer, Abgabe, Zoll, Dienst, Aufgabe, Respekt

idioms:

• do duty as    als etw. dienen
• do duty for    zu etw. dienen
• duty bound    verpflichtet
• on duty    diensthabend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - καθήκον, υποχρέωση, δασμός, φόρος εισαγωγής, (μηχ.) απόδοση

idioms:

• duty bound    υποχρεωμένος, που έχει ηθικό χρέος/δέσμευση
• on duty    εν υπηρεσία

Italiano (Italian)
tributo, turno, dovere

idioms:

• duty bound    obbligato per dovere
• on duty    di turno

Português (Portuguese)
n. - dever (m), imposto (m), direitos (m pl)

idioms:

• duty bound    ser obrigado a fazer algo
• off duty    estar de folga
• on duty    estar de serviço

Русский (Russian)
обязанность, дежурство, пошлина

idioms:

• duty bound    обязан
• off duty    не при исполнении служебных обязательств
• on duty    при исполнении служебных обязательств

Español (Spanish)
n. - deber, obligación, derechos de aduana, aranceles, impuesto, turno

idioms:

• do duty as    hacen de
• do duty for    hacer función para
• duty bound    estar obligado (moralmente)
• on duty    de servicio, de guardia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - plikt, åliggande, tjänstgöring, arbetsprestation

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
责任, 本分, 义务, 税

idioms:

• duty bound    义不容辞的
• on duty    值班, 上班

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 責任, 本分, 義務, 稅

idioms:

• duty bound    義不容辭的
• on duty    值班, 上班

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 책임, 직무, 세금, (연료 사용에서) 기관의 효율

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 義務, 義理, 任務, 税, 関税, 務め, 尊敬

idioms:

• duty bound    義務範囲
• off duty    非番で
• on duty    勤務時間中で

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مهمه, واجب, خدمه عسكريه, ضريبه تفرض على بعض البضائع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חובה, מס‬

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call duty	call of duty
heavy duty	call to duty