Obey Meaning
/əʊˈbeɪ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
verbTo do as one is told.
Sentence Examples
You are supposed to obey the law.
You must learn to obey instructions.
All drivers must obey the speed limit on this busy highway.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The strict teacher required all students to ____ the classroom rules without question.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Drivers must ____ all traffic signs and signals to ensure the safety of everyone on the road.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"They were all taught by Triton, to obay / To the long raynes, at her commaundement [...]."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The strict teacher required all students to ____ the classroom rules without question.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Drivers must ____ all traffic signs and signals to ensure the safety of everyone on the road.