Obedience

//oʊˈbidiəns// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The quality of being obedient. countable, uncountable

    "Obedience is essential in any army."

  2. 2
    behavior intended to please your parents wordnet
  3. 3
    The collective body of persons subject to any particular authority. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person wordnet
  5. 5
    A written instruction from the superior of an order to those under him. countable, uncountable
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    the trait of being willing to obey wordnet
  2. 7
    Any official position under an abbot's jurisdiction. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
submissionacceptanceaccommodationaccordaccordanceacquiescence

Example

More examples

"We should always act in obedience to the law."

Etymology

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.

Related phrases

anticipatory obediencecanonical obediencedog school

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.