Duty Meaning
/ˈdjuː.ti/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThat which one is morally or legally obligated to do.
nounThe state of being at work and responsible for or doing a particular task.
Sentence Examples
You must account for your neglect of duty.
You must perform your duty.
It is my duty to report it to the police.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
It is the captain's ____ to ensure everyone is safe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You must account for your neglect of ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English duete, from Middle English dewe + Middle English -te. Equivalent to due + -ty.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Captain Edward Carlisle[…]felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze,[…]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Your Excellency, I trust you will not find it necessary to use that word again. Were I not completely aware of my duty to my family and to my country, I would not have come back tonight…or indeed ever again!"
— 1953, Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton, Roman Holiday, spoken by Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn):
"Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour."
— 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
"British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far."
— 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
"Take that which is thy duty, and goo thy waye."
— 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
It is the captain's ____ to ensure everyone is safe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You must account for your neglect of ____.