Function, office, duty, province are comparable when they mean the act, acts, activities, or operations expected of a person or thing by virtue of his or its nature, structure, status, or position.
Function is the most comprehensive of these terms, capable of referring not only to a living thing or to a part or member of a living thing but to anything in nature (as the sun, the stars, or the earth) or in art, (as poetry, painting, music, or an example of one of these) or to anything constructed that serves a definite end or purpose or is intended to perform a particular kind of work.
Office applies usually to the function of or the work to be performed by a person as a result of his trade, profession, employment, or position with relation to others; in this sense it refers to a service that is expected of one or to a charge that is laid upon one.
Duty (see also TASK ) applies not only to the tasks expected or required to be performed in the course of occupation or employment, but to the offices associated with status, rank, or calling and generally regarded as inherent in that status, rank, or calling and as imposing an obligation upon the person so stationed.
Province (see also FIELD ) denotes a function, office, or duty which comes within one’s range of jurisdiction, powers, competence, or customary practice.