Etymologically
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duty

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈdjuː.ti/, US /ˈduː.t̬i/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English duete or dewte,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman dueté (“what is due”),[2][4][5] from Old French deü (“due, owed”),[2][4][6] from Vulgar Latin *dēbūtus, from Latin dēbitus, past participle of dēbēre (“to owe”),[2] from dē- (“away”) and habēre (“to have”).[2] It is related to due, debt and debit.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The conduct due to a superior, homage: 1297 in the OED,[7] and the 13th century in Hoad and Merriam-Webster.[5][3] Barnhart dates dewete, moral or legal obligation, to probably 1383, in Wycliffe's writings.[4]

Semantic evolution

Obligatory service, what one ought to do, is from the late 14th century,[2] the OED dating moral or legal obligation to about 1385.[7] A tax or fee owed to a government or guild is from probably 1377,[4] or the late 14th century in Etymonline,[2] and payment levied on imports and exports from 1474.[7] The military sense, a required service, is from the 1580s.[2] Duty-free is from the 1680s, and the duty-free shop by 1980.[2] dutiful is from 1552 and duteous from 1593, in Shakespeare's Lucrece.[4]

Timeline

  • 1297 – homage to a superior.[7]
  • 1377 – a tax or fee.[4]
  • c. 1385 – moral obligation.[7]
  • 1474 – customs duty.[7]
  • 1552 – dutiful.[4]
  • 1580s – military service.[2]
  • 1680s – duty-free.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A task or course of action required by one's position, custom, law or religion.
  2. Moral obligation, or the sense of it.
  3. A task assigned to one, especially in the armed forces: on duty.
  4. A tax charged by a government, especially on imports.
  5. The work done by a machine, or the use it is designed for: heavy-duty.

Word family

  • duteous
  • dutiable
  • dutiful
  • duty-free
  • heavy-duty
  • light-duty
  • off-duty

Usage notes

In Suffolk my duty was an expression of respect to a superior.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)