different between duty vs exercise

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

English

Alternative forms

• exercice (obsolete; noun senses only)

Etymology

From Middle English exercise, from Old French exercise, from Latin exercitium.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??k.s?.sa?z/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??k.s?.sa?z/
• Hyphenation: ex?er?cise

Noun

exercise (countable and uncountable, plural exercises)

1. (countable) Any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability.
   • an exercise of the eyes and memory

2. (countable, uncountable) Activity intended to improve physical, or sometimes mental, strength and fitness.

   • This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.
3. A setting in action or practicing; employment in the proper mode of activity; exertion; application; use.
   • December 8, 1801, Thomas Jefferson, first annual message

     exercise of the important function confided by the constitution to the legislature

   • O we will walk this world, / Yoked in all exercise of noble end.

4. The performance of an office, ceremony, or duty.

   I assisted the ailing vicar in the exercise of his parish duties.

   • Lewis […] refused even those of the church of England […] the public exercise of their religion.
5. (obsolete) That which gives practice; a trial; a test.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

exercise (third-person singular simple present exercises, present participle exercising, simple past and past participle exercised)

1. To exert for the sake of training or improvement; to practice in order to develop.

2. (intransitive) To perform physical activity for health or training.

3. (transitive) To use (a right, an option, etc.); to put into practice.
4. (now often in passive) To occupy the attention and effort of; to task; to tax, especially in a painful or vexatious manner; harass; to vex; to worry or make anxious.
5. (obsolete) To set in action; to cause to act, move, or make exertion; to give employment to.

Translations

See also

• train
• work out

Further reading

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