Duty
Duty noun - A charge usually of money collected by the government from people or businesses for public use.
Purpose and duty are semantically related in task topic. In some cases you can use "Purpose" instead a noun "Duty", when it comes to topics like assignment.
Purpose
Purpose noun - The action for which a person or thing is specially fitted or used or for which a thing exists.
Usage example: still trying to discover her purpose in life
Duty and purpose are semantically related in use topic. Sometimes you can use "Duty" instead a noun "Purpose", if it concerns topics such as task, assignment.
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
| good | good duty | good purpose |
| particular | particular duty | particular purpose |
| usual | usual duty | usual purpose |
| specific | specific duty | specific purpose |
| Other adjectives: original, noble, true, divine, actual, real, main, important, secret, holy, new, major, religious, sole, possible, final, secondary, official, primary, double, said. | ||
Both words in one sentence
-
They follow the economic theory that the first duty or purpose of any organisation is to continue to survive.
Source: Scary Dogmatic Aliens - Safiya lacks faith too, but feels bound by duty to protect the Captain which is revealed to be an extension of the deepest love, the purpose for which she was made.
- In Teresa Frohock's Miserere: An Autumn Tale, Matthew Kellogg serves this purpose to Lucian, telling him he can escape and reminding him of his duty.
Source: Herald
Cite this Source
Purpose and Duty. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/duty/purpose
Duty & Purpose. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/duty/purpose>.
Purpose or Duty. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/duty/purpose.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "duty" and "purpose" have occurred on timeline