obey Meaning, Definition & Usage

O*bey" transitive verb

Etymology

OE. obeyen, F. obéir, fr. L. obedire, oboedire; ob (see Ob-) + audire to hear. See Audible, and cf. Obeisance.

Wordforms

imperfect & past participle Obeyed ; present participle & verbal noun Obeying

Definitions

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.

O*bey" intransitive verb

Definitions

1. To give obedience.

   Will he obey when one commands? Tennyson.

   ✍ 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.