different between matter vs duty

English

Etymology

From Middle English matere, mater, from Anglo-Norman matere, materie, from Old French materie, matiere, from Latin materia (“matter, stuff, material”), derivative of Latin mater (“mother”). Doublet of Madeira.

Displaced native Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”) (from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”)), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?mæt?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?mæt?/, [?mæ??]
  • Homophone: madder
• Rhymes: -æt?(?)
• Hyphenation: mat?ter

Noun

matter (countable and uncountable, plural matters)

1. Substance, material.
   1. (physics) The basic structural component of the universe. Matter usually has mass and volume.
   2. (physics) Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles.

      Antonym: antimatter

   3. A kind of substance.

   4. Printed material, especially in books or magazines.

   5. (philosophy) Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.
2. A condition, subject or affair, especially one of concern.
   • 1597, Francis Bacon, Of the Colours of Good and Evil

     if the matter should be tried by duel

   • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift

     The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.

3. An approximate amount or extent.
4. (obsolete) The essence; the pith; the embodiment.
   • 1611, Ben Jonson, Oberon, the Faery Prince

     He is the matter of virtue.

5. (obsolete) Inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing.
6. (dated) Pus.

Synonyms

• material
• stuff
• substance

Derived terms

Related terms

• dark matter

Translations

Verb

matter (third-person singular simple present matters, present participle mattering, simple past and past participle mattered)

1. (intransitive) To be important. [from 16th c.]
2. (transitive, in negative constructions, now England regional, Caribbean) To care about, to mind; to find important. [from 17th c.]
   • , Folio Society 1973, p.47:

     Besides, if it had been out of doors I had not mattered it so much; but with my own servant, in my own house, under my own roof […]

   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 56:

     He matter'd not that, he said; coy maids made the fondest wives […].

3. (intransitive, medicine, archaic) To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.

   • Each slight sore mattereth.

Derived terms

• it doesn't matter
• no matter (“in spite of”)

Synonyms

• (be important): signify

Translations

French

Verb

matter

1. Alternative spelling of mater

Conjugation

Anagrams

• mettra

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mat?/

Adjective

matter

1. comparative degree of matt
2. inflection of matt:
   1. strong/mixed nominative masculine singular
   2. strong genitive/dative feminine singular
   3. strong genitive plural

Middle French

Alternative forms

• mater

Verb

matter

1. to checkmate

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

matter m pl or f pl

1. indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

matter f pl

1. indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)

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