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due

[doo, dyoo]
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adjective
  1. owed at present; having reached the date for payment: This bill is due.
  2. owing or owed, irrespective of whether the time of payment has arrived: This bill is due next month.
  3. owing or observed as a moral or natural right.
  4. rightful; proper; fitting: due care; in due time.
  5. adequate; sufficient: a due margin for delay.
  6. under engagement as to time; expected to be ready, be present, or arrive; scheduled: The plane is due at noon.
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noun
  1. something that is due, owed, or naturally belongs to someone.
  2. Usually dues. a regular fee or charge payable at specific intervals, especially to a group or organization: membership dues.
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adverb
  1. directly or exactly: a due east course.
  2. Obsolete. duly.
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Idioms
  1. due to,
    1. attributable to; ascribable to: The delay was due to heavy traffic.
    2. because of; owing to: All planes are grounded due to fog.
  2. give someone his/her due,
    1. to give what justice demands; treat fairly: Even though he had once cheated me, I tried to give him his due.
    2. to credit a disliked or dishonorable person for something that is likable, honorable, or the like.
  3. pay one's dues, to earn respect, a position, or a right by hard work, sacrifice, or experience: She's a famous musician now, but she paid her dues with years of practice and performing in small towns.
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Origin of due

1275–1325; Middle English < Anglo-French; Middle French deu, past participle of devoir < Latin dēbēre to owe; see debt
Related formsdue·ness, noun
Can be confuseddew do due

Usage note

11. Due to as a prepositional phrase meaning “because of, owing to” has been in use since the 14th century: Due to the sudden rainstorm, the picnic was moved indoors. Some object to this use on the grounds that due is historically an adjective and thus should be used only predicatively in constructions like The delay was due to electrical failure. Despite such objections, due to occurs commonly as a compound preposition and is standard in all varieties of speech and writing.

Pronunciation note

See new.

a due

[ah doo-ey; Italian ah doo-e]
adjective Music.
  1. together; in unison.
  2. divisi.
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Origin of a due

< Italian: literally, by two
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for due

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They've put lots of good weight-carriers off the track before they was due to go.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • All is prepared—the table and the feast— With due appurtenance of clothes and cushions.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Boy, they be not due to you till you be come to years of discretion.

    The Armourer's Prentices

    Charlotte M. Yonge

  • I don't want to trouble him, but I was bound he shouldn't keep from me what was rightly my due.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • Often enough these innovations were not due to the cleverness of man's brain.

    Ancient Man

    Hendrik Willem van Loon

British Dictionary definitions for due

due

adjective
  1. (postpositive) immediately payable
  2. (postpositive) owed as a debt, irrespective of any date for payment
  3. requisite; fitting; proper
  4. (prenominal) adequate or sufficient; enough
  5. (postpositive) expected or appointed to be present or arrivethe train is now due
  6. due to attributable to or caused by
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noun
  1. something that is owed, required, or due
  2. give a person his due to give or allow a person what is deserved or right
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adverb
  1. directly or exactly; straighta course due west
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See also dues

Word Origin

C13: from Old French deu, from devoir to owe, from Latin debēre; see debt, debit

usage

The use of due to as a compound preposition (the performance has been cancelled due to bad weather) was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for due

adj.

early 14c., "customary, regular;" mid-14c., "owing, payable," from Old French deu, past participle of devoir "to owe," from Latin debere "to owe" (see debt).

In reference to points of the compass (e.g. due east) it is attested from c.1600, originally nautical, from notion of "fitting, rightful." As an adverb from 1590s; as a noun from early 15c. Prepositional phrase due to (much maligned by grammarians) is from 1897.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with due

due

In addition to the idiom beginning with due

  • due to

also see:

  • give credit (where it's due)
  • give someone his or her due
  • give the devil his due
  • in due course
  • pay one's dues
  • with all due respect
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.