English Explanatory Dictionary

obey

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
  2. To do as one is told.
  3. To be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).

Pronunciation

/əʊˈbeɪ/ /əˈbeɪ/ /oʊˈbeɪ/ en-us-obey.ogg /ɵˈbe(j)/

Word forms

obey obeys obeying obeyed

Etymology

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).

Synonyms

hearken mind accede assent acquiesce obey comply conform submit yield

Antonyms

disobey defy rebel resist violate

Related words

obedience obedient obeisance adhere carry out follow fulfill keep meet observe command instruction pay attention

Derived words

misobey obeyable obeyance obeyer obeyingly tremble and obey unobeyed unobeying
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on O Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary