Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An act or expression of respect or courtesy; civility.
- noun Duty or responsibility.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Duty or service; hence, an act of civility or respect; respectful notice due to another: as, we paid our devoirs to our host.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Duty; service owed; hence, due act of civility or respect; -- now usually in the plural.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun archaic
Duty ,business ; something which one must do.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun formal expression of respect
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Sir, of your valliance you should have held to your good vow, -- quoth the damozel, for now you see me sore perplexed and that you did not your devoir is my affliction.
The Amazing Marriage — Volume 1 George Meredith 1868
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Sir, of your valliance you should have held to your good vow, -- quoth the damozel, for now you see me sore perplexed and that you did not your devoir is my affliction.
Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868
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Sir, of your valliance you should have held to your good vow, -- quoth the damozel, for now you see me sore perplexed and that you did not your devoir is my affliction.
The Amazing Marriage — Complete George Meredith 1868
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'Help is needed there,' cried the kind heart just now, and then the blood did its 'devoir'.
Complete Project Gutenberg Georg Ebers Works Georg Ebers 1867
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'Help is needed there,' cried the kind heart just now, and then the blood did its 'devoir'.
In the Fire of the Forge — Complete Georg Ebers 1867
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'Help is needed there,' cried the kind heart just now, and then the blood did its 'devoir'.
In the Fire of the Forge — Volume 03 Georg Ebers 1867
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Now consider, first, the difference in their influence over the armies of France, between the ancient word "devoir," and modern word "gloire."
Lectures on Architecture and Painting Delivered at Edinburgh in November 1853 John Ruskin 1859
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What is important in this affair is that the devoir d'ingérance the right to violate the sovereignty of a country if human rights are being excessively violated has been recognised.
Libya: Bernard-Henri Lévy dismisses criticism for leading France to conflict 2011
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Je vais devoir vérifier les journaux de demain pour savoir quel village a perdu leur idiot ...... parce que je suis perdu.
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Je vais devoir vérifier les journaux de demain pour savoir quel village a perdu leur idiot ...... parce que je suis perdu.
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