duty

  • noun (pl. duties) 1 a moral or legal obligation. 2 a task required as part of one’s job. 3 a payment levied on the import, export, manufacture, or sale of goods. 4 Brit. a payment levied on the transfer of property, for licences, and for the legal recognition of documents.

  — PHRASES on (or off) duty engaged (or not engaged) in one’s regular work.

  — ORIGIN Old French duete, from deu ‘owed, due’.

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