obedience

Etymology

From Middle English obedience, from Anglo-Norman obedience, from Old French obedience (modern French obédience), from Latin oboedientia. Displaced native Old English hīersumnes. Cognate with obeisance.

noun

  1. The quality of being obedient.
    Obedience is essential in any army.
    February 24, 1823, Thomas Jefferson, letter to Mr. Edward Everett Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.
  2. The collective body of persons subject to any particular authority.
  3. A written instruction from the superior of an order to those under him.
  4. Any official position under an abbot's jurisdiction.

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