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(), n.; pl. Duties (). [From Due.] 1. That which is due; payment. [Obs. as signifying a material thing.] When thou receivest money for thy labor or ware, thou receivest thy duty. Tyndale. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. Specifically, obedience or submission due to parents and superiors. Shak. 5. Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage. "My duty to you." Shak. 6. (Engin.) The efficiency of an engine, especially a steam pumping engine, as measured b スポンサード リンク
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