obey
- 1To carry out the orders of a person, institution, or other authority; to act according to their bidding.
Citizens are expected to obey the laws of the country.
She obeyed her father's instructions and locked the gate.
Note
Behind the word is a Latin picture of listening. Oboediō comes from ob- "before, near" and audiō "to hear", so obeying began as giving ear to someone, and the same root appears in audient. In modern English the verb takes its object directly, with no preposition: obey the rules, obey your boss. The older pattern with to belongs to the obsolete "obedient to" use.
- 2
- 3To submit or conform to a law, restriction, or similar constraint.
Note
A construction now gone from the language. In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590), those taught by Triton learn "to obay / To the long raynes". The verb stands alone, and the thing obeyed is introduced by to. It suits historical pastiche or period dialogue. In ordinary writing, use the direct-object verb instead: obey the reins, not obey to them.
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Origin
From Middle English obeyen, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French obeir, from Latin oboedio (also obedio, "to listen to, obey, be subject to, serve"). This comes from ob- ("before, near") plus audio ("to hear"); the form oboedio is thought to reflect a false archaism, possibly encouraged by the word's associations with law courts.