obey
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Anglo-Norman obeir, obeier et al., Old French obeir, from Latin oboedire (also obēdīre (“to listen to, harken, usually in extended sense, obey, be subject to, serve”)), from ob- (“before, near”) + audīre (“to hear”). Compare audient.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
obey (third-person singular simple present obeys, present participle obeying, simple past and past participle obeyed)
- (transitive) To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
- (intransitive) To do as one is told.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.iv:
- They were all taught by Triton, to obay / To the long raynes, at her commaundement [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.iv:
Antonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to do as ordered by
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to do as one is told
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to be obedient, compliant
External links[edit]
- obey in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- obey in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
