Assume vs. Duty — What's the Difference?

To take for granted; suppose

A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; Old French: deu, did, past participle of devoir; Latin: debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, especially in an honor culture.

To take upon oneself (a duty or obligation)

An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion

To undertake the duties of (an office)

Required action or service

To take on (an appearance, role, or form, for example); adopt

Active military service

To pretend to have; feign

Moral or legal obligation

To take over without justification; seize

The compulsion felt to meet such obligation

To clothe oneself in; don

A tax charged by a government, especially on imports.

To take up or receive into heaven.

The application of something for a purpose; use

To make a supposition; suppose or believe

A measure of efficiency expressed as the amount of work done per unit of energy used.

To authenticate by means of belief; to surmise; to suppose to be true, especially without proof

The total volume of water required to irrigate a given area in order to cultivate a specific crop until harvest.

To take on a position, duty or form

That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.

To adopt a feigned quality or manner; to claim without right; to arrogate

The state of being at work and responsible for or doing a particular task.

To receive, adopt (a person)

A tax placed on imports or exports; a tariff.

To adopt (an idea or cause)

(obsolete) One's due, something one is owed; a debt or fee.

To take to or upon one's self; to take formally and demonstratively; sometimes, to appropriate or take unjustly.

(obsolete) Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.

To take for granted, or without proof; to suppose as a fact; to suppose or take arbitrarily or tentatively.

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).

To pretend to possess; to take in appearance.

That which is due; payment.

To receive or adopt.

That which a person is bound by moral obligation to do, or refrain from doing; that which one ought to do; service morally obligatory.

To be arrogant or pretentious; to claim more than is due.

Hence, any assigned service or business; as, the duties of a policeman, or a soldier; to be on duty.

To undertake, as by a promise.

Specifically, obedience or submission due to parents and superiors.

Take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof;

Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.

Take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities;

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).

Take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect;

Tax, toll, impost, or customs; excise; any sum of money required by government to be paid on the importation, exportation, or consumption of goods.

Take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person;

Work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons;

Occupy or take on;

The social force that binds you to your obligations and the courses of action demanded by that force;

Seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession;

A government tax on imports or exports;

Make a pretence of;

Christianity, obsolete; take up someone's soul into heaven;

Put clothing on one's body;