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obey - 5 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
1250–1300; ME obeien < OF obeir < L oboedīre, equiv. to ob- ob- + audīre to hear; -oe- for expected -ū- is unclear
Related forms:
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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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To obey
| o·bey (ō-bā') v. o·beyed, o·bey·ing, o·beys v. tr.
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Obey
O*bey"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Obeyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Obeying.] [OE. obeyen, F. ob['e]ir, fr. L. obedire, oboedire; ob (see Ob-) + audire to hear. See Audible, and cf. Obeisance.]1. To give ear to; to execute the commands of; to yield submission to; to comply with the orders of. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. --Eph. vi. 1. Was she the God, that her thou didst obey? --Milton. 2. To submit to the authority of; to be ruled by. My will obeyed his will. --Chaucer. Afric and India shall his power obey. --Dryden. 3. To yield to the impulse, power, or operation of; as, a ship obeys her helm.Obey
O*bey"\, v. i. To give obedience. Will he obey when one commands? --Tennyson. Note: By some old writers obey was used, as in the French idiom, with the preposition to. His servants ye are, to whom ye obey. --Rom. vi. 16. He commanded the trumpets to sound: to which the two brave knights obeying, they performed their courses. --Sir. P. Sidney.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : obey
Spanish:
obedecer,
German:
gehorchen,
Japanese:
従う
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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