obey
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English obeyen, from Anglo-Norman obeir, obeier et al., Old French obeir, from Latin oboediō (also obēdiō (“to listen to, harken, usually in extended sense, obey, be subject to, serve”)), from ob- (“before, near”) + audiō (“to hear”). Compare audient. In Latin, ob + audire would have been expected to become Classical Latin *obūdiō (compare in + claudō becoming inclūdō), but it has been theorized that the usual law court associations of the word for obeying encouraged a false archaism from ū to oe, to oboediō (compare Old Latin oinos → Classical Latin ūnus).[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American) IPA(key): /oʊˈbeɪ/, /əˈbeɪ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əʊˈbeɪ/, /əˈbeɪ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (file) - Rhymes: -eɪ
- Hyphenation: obey
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:
Synonyms[edit]
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
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Further reading[edit]
- obey in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- obey in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
References[edit]
- ^ page 220, The Latin Language by L.R.Palmer (→ISBN, →ISBN), and online at this link.
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English basic words
