"performing the duties required by social or legal obligation; obediently respectful," 1550s, from duty + -ful. Related: Dutifully; dutifulness. Shakespeare uses duteous.
Entries linking to dutiful
duty n.
late 14c., duete, "obligatory service, that which ought to be done," also "the force of that which is morally right," from Anglo-French duete, from Old French deu "due, owed," hence "proper, just" (on the notion of "that which one is bound by natural, moral, or legal obligation to do or perform"); from Vulgar Latin *debutus, from Latin debitus, past participle of debere "to owe," originally, "keep something away from someone," from de- "away" (see de-) + habere "to have" (from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive"). Related: Duties.
Military sense of "a requisite service" is by 1580s. The sense of "tax or fee on imports, exports, etc." is from late 14c.; hence duty-free (adv.) "free from tax or duty" (1680s), and, as a noun, "duty-free article" (1958), "duty-free shop" (by 1980).
-ful
word-forming element attached to nouns (and in modern English to verb stems) and meaning "full of, having, characterized by," also "amount or volume contained" (handful, bellyful); from Old English -full, -ful, which is full (adj.) become a suffix by being coalesced with a preceding noun, but originally a separate word. Cognate with German -voll, Old Norse -fullr, Danish -fuld. Most English -ful adjectives at one time or another had both passive ("full of x") and active ("causing x; full of occasion for x") senses.
It is rare in Old English and Middle English, where full was much more commonly attached at the head of a word (for example Old English fulbrecan "to violate," fulslean "to kill outright," fulripod "mature;" Middle English had ful-comen "attain (a state), realize (a truth)," ful-lasting "durability," ful-thriven "complete, perfect," etc.).