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Added 9 October 2026

obey

/əʊˈbeɪ/ verb

In Latin: audio, obaudio, oboedio Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about obey at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
obey the rules
To do as one is told.
Soldiers are trained to obey.
To be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).

Origin

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).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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