Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Obedience
1.
The act of obeying, or the state of being obedient; compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control.
Government must compel the
obedience
of individuals. Ames.
2.
Words or actions denoting submission to authority; dutifulness.
Shak.
3.
(Eccl.)
(a)
A following; a body of adherents;
as, the Roman Catholic
. obedience
, or the whole body of persons who submit to the authority of the pope(b)
A cell (or offshoot of a larger monastery) governed by a prior.
(c)
One of the three monastic vows.
Shipley.
(d)
The written precept of a superior in a religious order or congregation to a subject.
Webster 1828 Edition
Obedience
OBE'DIENCE
,Noun.
Compliance with a command, prohibition or known law and rule of duty prescribed; the performance of what is required or enjoined by authority, or the abstaining from what is prohibited, in compliance with the command or prohibition. To constitute obedience, the act or forbearance to act must be in submission to authority; the command must be known to the person, and his compliance must be in consequence of it, or it is not obedience. Obedience is not synonymous with obsequiousness; the latter often implying meanness or servility, and obedience being merely a proper submission to authority. That which duty requires implies dignity of conduct rather than servility. Obedience may be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary obedience alone can be acceptable to God.
Government must compel the obedience of individuals; otherwise who will seek its protection or fear its vengeance?
Definition 2024
obedience
obedience
See also: obédience
English
Alternative forms
- oboedience (archaic, rare)
Noun
obedience (countable and uncountable, plural obediences)
- The quality of being obedient.
- Obedience is essential in any army.
- 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter VIII
- 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...
Related terms
Synonyms
Antonyms
- disobedience, defiance, rebellion (ignoring)
- violation (ignoring, especially rules)
- control, dominance (ruling)
Translations
quality of being obedient
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External links
- obedience in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- obedience in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Old French
Etymology
From Latin
Noun
obedience f (oblique plural obediences, nominative singular obedience, nominative plural obediences)