obey

Verb

WordNet 3.0

Verb (1)

  1. be obedient to
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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. [1913 Webster]

Children, obey your parents in the Lord.— Eph. vi. 1.[1913 Webster]
Was she the God, that her thou didst obey?— Milton.[1913 Webster]

2.To submit to the authority of; to be ruled by. [1913 Webster]

My will obeyed his will.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]
Afric and India shall his power obey.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

3.To yield to the impulse, power, or operation of; as, a ship obeys her helm. [1913 Webster]

Obey \O*bey"\, v. i. To give obedience. [1913 Webster]

Will he obey when one commands? --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]

Note: By some old writers obey was used, as in the French idiom, with the preposition to. [1913 Webster]

His servants ye are, to whom ye obey.— Rom. vi. 16.[1913 Webster]
He commanded the trumpets to sound: to which the two brave knights obeying, they performed their courses.— Sir. P. Sidney.[1913 Webster]
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