different between career vs duty

English

Etymology

Mid 16th century, from French carrière (a road or racecourse), from Italian carriera, from Old Occitan carreira, from Late Latin carr?ria based on Latin carrus 'wheeled vehicle'. Alternatively, from Middle French carriere, from Old Occitan carriera ("road"), from Late Latin carr?ria.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?????/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?????/
• Homophone (non-rhotic accents only): Korea
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Noun

career (plural careers)

1. One's calling in life; a person's occupation; one's profession.
2. General course of action or conduct in life, or in a particular part of it.

3. (archaic) Speed.
   • 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick

     when a horse is running in his full career

   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 3, chapter XIII, Democracy

     It may be admitted that Democracy, in all meanings of the word, is in full career; irresistible by any Ritter Kauderwalsch or other Son of Adam, as times go.

4. A jouster's path during a joust.
   • 1819: Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

     These knights, therefore, their aim being thus eluded, rushed from opposite sides betwixt the object of their attack and the Templar, almost running their horses against each other ere they could stop their career.

5. (obsolete) A short gallop of a horse. [16th-18th c.]
   • 1603, John Florio, trans. Michel de Montaigne, Essyas, I.48:

     It is said of Cæsar […] that in his youth being mounted upon a horse, and without any bridle, he made him run a full cariere [tr. carriere], make a sodaine stop, and with his hands behind his backe performe what ever can be expected of an excellent ready horse.

   • 1756, William Guthrie (translator), Of Eloquence (originally by Quintillian)

     Such littleness damps the heat, and weakens the force of genius; as we check a horse in his career, and rein him in when we want him to amble

6. (falconry) The flight of a hawk.
7. (obsolete) A racecourse; the ground run over.

   • to think of going back again the same career

Related terms

• careerism
• careerist

Translations

Verb

career (third-person singular simple present careers, present participle careering, simple past and past participle careered)

1. To move rapidly straight ahead, especially in an uncontrolled way.

   Synonym: careen

   The car careered down the road, missed the curve, and went through a hedge.

Translations

Adjective

career (not comparable)

1. Synonym of serial (“doing something repeatedly or regularly as part of one's lifestyle or career”)

   a career criminal

   • 2012, Arthur Gillard, Homelessness (page 38)

     Studies on homeless income find that the typical “career panhandler” who dedicates his time overwhelmingly to begging can make between $600 and $1,500 a month.

Further reading

• "career" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 52.

Scots

Etymology

From English career.

Noun

career (plural careers)

1. career

English

Etymology

From Middle English duete, from Middle English dewe) + Middle English -te, (borrowed from Old French -te from Latin -t?tem, accusative masculine singular of -t?s). Akin to due + -ty (Alternative form of -ity).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?dju?ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /du?ti/
• Rhymes: -u?ti
• Homophone: doody (for some speakers)

Noun

duty (countable and uncountable, plural duties)

1. That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.
   • 1805, 21 October, Horatio Nelson

     England expects that every man will do his duty.

   • 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.
2. The state of being at work and responsible for or doing a particular task.

3. A tax placed on imports or exports; a tariff.

   customs duty; excise duty

4. (obsolete) One's due, something one is owed; a debt or fee.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XX:

     Take that which is thy duty, and goo thy waye.

5. (obsolete) Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.
6. 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).

Usage notes

• Adjectives often used with "duty": public, private, moral, legal, social, double, civic, contractual, political, judicial, etc.

Synonyms

• (that which one is obligated to do): obligation

Antonyms

• duty-free (taxes)
• (that which one is obligated to do): right

Derived terms

Related terms

• due

Translations

Further reading

• duty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• duty in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• duty at OneLook Dictionary Search

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?dut?]

Participle

duty

1. past passive participle of du?

Declension