different between duty vs topic

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

• topick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin topica, from Ancient Greek ??????? (topikós, “pertaining to a place, local, pertaining to a common place, or topic, topical”), from ????? (tópos, “a place”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t?p?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t?p?k/
• Rhymes: -?p?k
• Hyphenation: top?ic

Adjective

topic

1. topical

Noun

topic (plural topics)

1. Subject; theme; a category or general area of interest.
2. (Internet) Discussion thread.
3. (music) A musical sign intended to suggest a particular style or genre.
   • 2012, Esti Sheinberg, Music Semiotics (page 9)

     In Peircean terms, topics are interpretants: signifieds that become new signifiers in the endless semiotic chain of interpretations.

4. (obsolete) An argument or reason.
   • 1675, John Wilkins, Of the Principle and Duties of Natural Religion

     contumacious persons, who are not to be fixed by any principles, whom no topics can work upon

5. (obsolete, medicine) An external local application or remedy, such as a plaster, a blister, etc.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wiseman to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (area of interest): subject, subject area

Derived terms

• -topic

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• cop it, optic, picot