Etymology

duty

du·ty
D2U1T1Y4

Today it means: That which one is morally or legally obligated to do. Full definition →

Middle English duete
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited from-te
  2. Middle English · derived fromdewe
  3. Middle English · derived fromduete
  4. English todayduty

From Middle English duete, from Middle English dewe + Middle English -te. Equivalent to due + -ty.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishdewe all →

duedew

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.