duty
duty is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 6 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 40 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.
Definitions
- 1.That which a person is bound by moral obligation to do, or refrain from doing; that which one ought to do; service morally obligatory. Forgetting his duty toward God, his sovereign lord, and his country. Hallam.
- 2.Hence, any assigned service or business; as, the duties of a policeman, or a soldier; to be on duty. With records sweet of duties done. Keble. To employ him on the hardest and most imperative duty. Hallam. Duty is a graver term than obligation. A duty hardly exists to do trivial things; but there may be an obligation to do them. C. J. Smith.
- 3.Specifically, obedience or submission due to parents and superiors. Shak.
- 4.Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage. "My duty to you." Shak.
- 5.(Engin.) 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).
- 6.(Com.) Tax, toll, impost, or customs; excise; any sum of money required by government to be paid on the importation, exportation, or consumption of goods. Note: An impost on land or other real estate, and on the stock of farmers, is not called a duty, but a direct tax. [U.S.] Ad valorem duty, a duty which is graded according to the cost, or market value, of the article taxed. See Ad valorem. -- Specific duty, a duty of a specific sum assessed on an article without reference to its value or market. -- On duty, actually engaged in the performance of one's assigned task.
Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
Synonyms
Related terms (Roget's 1911)
- all
- and
- armed
- behavior
- bold
- bon
- cardinal
- clear
- credit
- delight
- desert
- deserve
- devil
- discharge
- distinction
- dole
- done
- droit
- due
- equable
- equal
- equitableness
- equity
- ethics
- even
- evenhanded
- every
- excellence
- fair
- favor
- fides
- field
- fit
- fitness
- for
- fulfillment
- give
- good
- hath
- his
Source: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
Related questions
Reverse-dictionary questions
Definition-first questions whose answer is duty.
Sources
- Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Synonyms & antonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
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