Meanings
present singular third person obeys · participle present obeying · participle past obeyed · past obeyed
- transitiveTo do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
obey the rules
1 more example
obey your boss
- intransitiveTo do as one is told.
Soldiers are trained to obey.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinoboediō
- Old Frenchobeir
- Anglo-Normanobeir
- Middle Englishobeyen
- Englishobey
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).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὑπακούω, πείθομαι
- ὑπακούω (hupakoúō)to do as ordered by
- πείθομαι (peíthomai)to do as one is told
Arabic أَطَاعَ
- أَطَاعَ (ʔaṭāʕa)to do as ordered by
Bulgarian подчиня́вам се, покоря́вам се
- подчиня́вам се (podčinjávam se)to do as ordered by
- покоря́вам се (pokorjávam se)to do as ordered by
- слу́шам (slúšam)to do as one is told
- покоря́вам се (pokorjávam se)to be obedient, compliant
Catalan obeir
- obeirto do as ordered by
Chinese Mandarin 服從 /服从, 遵守
- 服從 /服从 (fúcóng)to do as ordered by
- 遵守 (zūnshǒu)to do as ordered by
Czech poslouchat, podřídit se
- poslouchatto do as ordered by
- podřídit seto do as one is told
- řídit seto do as one is told
- být v souladuto be obedient, compliant
Danish adlyde, lystre
- adlydeto do as ordered by
- lystreto do as ordered by
- lydeto do as ordered by
Dutch gehoorzamen
- gehoorzamento do as ordered by
Esperanto obei
- obeito do as ordered by
Finnish totella, noudattaa
- totellato do as ordered by
- noudattaato do as ordered by
- totellato do as one is told
French obéir, obtempérer
- obéirto do as ordered by
- obtempérerto do as ordered by
German gehorchen, befolgen
- gehorchento do as ordered by
- befolgento do as one is told
Greek υπακούω
- υπακούω (ypakoúo)to do as ordered by
Hindi आज्ञा मानना, आज्ञापालन
- आज्ञा मानना (ājñā mānnā)to do as ordered by
- आज्ञापालन (ājñāpālan)to do as ordered by
- आज्ञापालन (ājñāpālan)to do as one is told
- आज्ञाकारी (ājñākārī)to be obedient, compliant
Hungarian engedelmeskedik, betart
- engedelmeskedikto do as ordered by
- betartto do as ordered by
- követto do as ordered by
- tiszteletben tartto do as ordered by
- engedelmeskedikto do as one is told
- szót fogadto do as one is told
Irish géill do
- géill doto do as ordered by
Italian obbedire, ubbidire
- obbedireto do as ordered by
- ubbidireto do as ordered by
- obbedireto be obedient, compliant
- assolvereto be obedient, compliant
- conformarsito be obedient, compliant
Japanese 従う, 服従する
- 従う (shitagau)to do as ordered by
- 服従する (fukujū suru)to do as ordered by
- 言いなりになる (iinari ni naru)to do as one is told
Korean 복종하다
- 복종하다 (bokjonghada)to do as ordered by
Latin audio, obaudio
- audioto do as ordered by
- obaudioto do as ordered by
- oboedioto do as ordered by
- pareoto do as ordered by
- audioto do as one is told
- obaudioto do as one is told
- oboedioto do as one is told
- audioto be obedient, compliant
Māori mau, ū
- mauto do as ordered by
- ūto do as ordered by
- whakarongoto do as ordered by
- ūto do as one is told
- whakarongoto do as one is told
- ūto be obedient, compliant
Norwegian adlyde, være lydhør
- adlydeto do as one is told
- være lydhørto do as one is told
Norwegian Bokmål lyde, adlyde
- lydeto do as ordered by
- adlydeto do as ordered by
- lystreto do as ordered by
- adlydeto do as one is told
- lystreto do as one is told
Persian اطاعت کردن
- اطاعت کردن (etâ'at kardan)to do as ordered by
Polish przestrzegać, być posłusznym
- przestrzegaćto do as ordered by
- być posłusznymto do as one is told
- słuchać sięto do as one is told
- być posłusznymto be obedient, compliant
Portuguese obedecer
- obedecerto do as ordered by
Romanian a se supune
- a se supuneto do as ordered by
Russian подчиня́ться, подчини́ться
- подчиня́ться (podčinjátʹsja)to do as ordered by
- подчини́ться (podčinítʹsja)to do as ordered by
- повинова́ться (povinovátʹsja)to do as ordered by
- покоря́ться (pokorjátʹsja)to do as ordered by
- покори́ться (pokorítʹsja)to do as ordered by
- слу́шаться (slúšatʹsja)to do as one is told
- послу́шаться (poslúšatʹsja)to do as one is told
Slovak poslúchať, poslúchnuť
- poslúchaťto do as ordered by
- poslúchnuťto do as ordered by
Spanish obedecer, obedecer
- obedecerto do as ordered by
- obedecerto do as one is told
- acatarto be obedient, compliant
- atenerseto be obedient, compliant
Swahili kutii
- kutiito do as ordered by
Swedish lyda, lyda
- lydato do as ordered by
- lydato do as one is told
Thai เชื่อฟัง
- เชื่อฟัง (chʉ̂ʉa-fang)to do as ordered by
Turkish saymak, itaat etmek
- saymakto do as ordered by
- itaat etmekto do as one is told
Ukrainian підкоря́тися, підкори́тися
- підкоря́тися (pidkorjátysja)to do as ordered by
- підкори́тися (pidkorýtysja)to do as ordered by
- кори́тися (korýtysja)to do as ordered by
- слу́хатися (slúxatysja)to do as one is told
Urdu اطاعت کرنا
- اطاعت کرنا (itā'at karnā)to do as ordered by
Vietnamese phục tùng, tuân theo
- phục tùngto do as ordered by
- tuân theoto do as ordered by
- vâng lờito do as one is told
Welsh ufuddhau
- ufuddhauto do as ordered by
Yiddish פֿאָלגן, פֿאָלגן
- פֿאָלגן (folgn)to do as ordered by
- פֿאָלגן (folgn)to do as one is told
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with obey
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
obey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obey
“obey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obey. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “obey,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obey.
Source: obey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.