obey
Verb
Verb Forms: obeyed, obeying, obeys
- To comply with commands or submit to authority.
- be obedient to
- To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
- To do as one is told.
- To be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).
Examples
- His tiles seemed to OBEY his will, forming perfect words effortlessly.
- obey the rules
- obey your boss
- Soldiers are trained to obey.
Origin / Etymology
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).
Scrabble Score: 9
obey: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordobey: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
obey: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary