Meanings
plural obediences · alternative oboedience
- countableuncountableThe quality of being obedient.
Obedience is essential in any army.
2 more examples
February 24, 1823, Thomas Jefferson, letter to Mr. Edward Everett Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.
Cautioning Nobs to silence, and he had learned many lessons in the value of obedience since we had entered Caspak, I slunk forward, taking advantage of whatever cover I could find...
1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter VIII, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC - countableuncountableThe collective body of persons subject to any particular authority.
- countableuncountableA written instruction from the superior of an order to those under him.
- countableuncountableAny official position under an abbot's jurisdiction.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person
nounthe trait of being willing to obey
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinoboedientia
- Old Frenchobedience
- Anglo-Normanobedience
- Middle Englishobedience
- Englishobedience
From Middle English obedience, from Anglo-Norman obedience, from Old French obedience (modern French obédience), from Latin oboedientia. Displaced native Old English hīersumnes (compare modern English hearsomeness). Cognate with obeisance.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὑπακοή, πειθαρχία
- ὑπακοή (hupakoḗ)quality of being obedient
- πειθαρχία (peitharkhía)quality of being obedient
Arabic طَاعَة, إِطَاعَة
- طَاعَة (ṭāʕa)quality of being obedient
- إِطَاعَة (ʔiṭāʕa)quality of being obedient
Bulgarian подчине́ние, поко́рство
- подчине́ние (podčinénie)quality of being obedient
- поко́рство (pokórstvo)quality of being obedient
Catalan obediència
- obediènciaquality of being obedient
Chinese Mandarin 百依百順 /百依百顺, 服從 /服从
- 百依百順 /百依百顺 (bǎiyībǎishùn)quality of being obedient
- 服從 /服从 (fúcóng)quality of being obedient
Czech poslušnost
- poslušnostquality of being obedient
Danish lydighed
- lydighedquality of being obedient
Dutch gehoorzaamheid
- gehoorzaamheidquality of being obedient
Esperanto obeemo
- obeemoquality of being obedient
Estonian sõnakuulelikkus
- sõnakuulelikkusquality of being obedient
Finnish kuuliaisuus
- kuuliaisuusquality of being obedient
French obéissance
- obéissancequality of being obedient
German Gehorsam, Folgsamkeit
- Gehorsamquality of being obedient
- Folgsamkeitquality of being obedient
- Gehorsamkeitquality of being obedient
Greek υπακοή, πειθαρχία
- υπακοή (ypakoḯ)quality of being obedient
- πειθαρχία (peitharchía)quality of being obedient
Hebrew צַיְתָנוּת
- צַיְתָנוּת (tsaytanut)quality of being obedient
Hindi अनुपालन, आज्ञाकारिता
- अनुपालन (anupālan)quality of being obedient
- आज्ञाकारिता (ājñākāritā)quality of being obedient
Hungarian engedelmesség
- engedelmességquality of being obedient
Indonesian kepatuhan
- kepatuhanquality of being obedient
Irish umhlaíocht
- umhlaíochtquality of being obedient
Italian obbedienza
- obbedienzaquality of being obedient
Japanese 服従, 恭順
- 服従 (fukujū)quality of being obedient
- 恭順 (kyōjun)quality of being obedient
- 順守 (junshu)quality of being obedient
Korean 복종
- 복종 (bokjong)quality of being obedient
Latin oboedientia
- oboedientiaquality of being obedient
Latvian paklausība, rātnība
- paklausībaquality of being obedient
- rātnībaquality of being obedient
Lithuanian paklusnumas, paklusimas
- paklusnumasquality of being obedient
- paklusimasquality of being obedient
Norwegian Bokmål lydighet
- lydighetquality of being obedient
Persian رامی, اطاعت
- رامی (râmi)quality of being obedient
- اطاعت (etâ'at)quality of being obedient
- فزمانبردای (farmānbordārī)quality of being obedient
Polish posłuszeństwo
- posłuszeństwoquality of being obedient
Portuguese obediência
- obediênciaquality of being obedient
Romanian ascultare, supunere
- ascultarequality of being obedient
- supunerequality of being obedient
Russian послуша́ние, поко́рность
- послуша́ние (poslušánije)quality of being obedient
- поко́рность (pokórnostʹ)quality of being obedient
- подчине́ние (podčinénije)quality of being obedient
- повинове́ние (povinovénije)quality of being obedient
Slovak poslušnosť
- poslušnosťquality of being obedient
Spanish obediencia
- obedienciaquality of being obedient
Swahili taa, utii
- taaquality of being obedient
- utiiquality of being obedient
Swedish lydnad
- lydnadquality of being obedient
Tagalog pagsunod
- pagsunodquality of being obedient
Thai การเชื่อฟัง
- การเชื่อฟัง (gaan-chʉ̂ʉa-fang)quality of being obedient
Turkish itaatkârlık, itaatlilik
- itaatkârlıkquality of being obedient
- itaatlilikquality of being obedient
Ukrainian покі́рність, послу́шність
- покі́рність (pokírnistʹ)quality of being obedient
- послу́шність (poslúšnistʹ)quality of being obedient
- поко́ра (pokóra)quality of being obedient
- слухня́ність (sluxnjánistʹ)quality of being obedient
- послухня́ність (posluxnjánistʹ)quality of being obedient
Urdu اطاعت
- اطاعت (itā'at)quality of being obedient
Vietnamese sự nghe lời
- sự nghe lờiquality of being obedient
Welsh ufudd-dod
- ufudd-dodquality of being obedient
Yiddish פֿאָלגן
- פֿאָלגן (folgn)quality of being obedient
Cite this entry
obedience. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obedience
“obedience.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obedience. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “obedience,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obedience.
Source: obedience on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.