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Obeying

 - 3 dictionary results

o⋅bey

[oh-bey]
–verb (used with object)
1. to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of: to obey one's parents.
2. to comply with or follow (a command, restriction, wish, instruction, etc.).
3. (of things) to respond conformably in action to: The car obeyed the slightest touch of the steering wheel.
4. to submit or conform in action to (some guiding principle, impulse, one's conscience, etc.).
–verb (used without object)
5. to be obedient: to agree to obey.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME obeien < OF obeir < L oboedīre, equiv. to ob- ob- + audīre to hear; -oe- for expected -ū- is unclear


o⋅bey⋅a⋅ble, adjective
o⋅bey⋅er, noun
o⋅bey⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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o·bey   (ō-bā')   
v.   o·beyed, o·bey·ing, o·beys

v.   tr.
  1. To carry out or fulfill the command, order, or instruction of.

  2. To carry out or comply with (a command, for example).

v.   intr.
To behave obediently.

[Middle English obeien, from Old French obeir, from Latin oboedīre, to listen to : ob-, to; see ob- + audīre, to hear; see au- in Indo-European roots.]
o·bey'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

obey 
c.1290, from O.Fr. obeir, from L. oboedire "obey, pay attention to, give ear," lit. "listen to," from ob "to" + audire "listen, hear" (see audience). Same sense development is in cognate O.E. hiersumnian.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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