Definitions for obedience
oʊˈbi di ənsobe·di·ence

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.5 / 12 votes

1. obedience, obeisancenoun

   the act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person

2. obediencenoun

   the trait of being willing to obey

3. obedience, respectnoun

   behavior intended to please your parents

   "their children were never very strong on obedience"; "he went to law school out of respect for his father's wishes"

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.1 / 8 votes

1. obediencenoun

   The quality of being obedient.

   Obedience is essential in any army.

2. Etymology: From obedience, from obedience (modern French obédience), from oboedientia.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Obediencenoun

   Obsequiousness; submission to authority; compliance with command or prohibition.

   Etymology: obedience, Fr. obedientia, Latin.

   If you violently proceed against him, it would shake in pieces the heart of his obedience. William Shakespeare, K. Lear.

   Thy husband
   Craves no other tribute at thy hands,
   But love, fair looks, and true obedience. William Shakespeare.

   His servants ye are, to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. Rom. vi. 16.

   It was both a strange commission, and a strange obedience to a commission, for men so furiously assailed, to hold their hands. Francis Bacon, War with Spain.

   Nor can this be,
   But by fulfilling that which thou didst want,
   Obedience to the law of God, impos’d
   On penalty of death. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. xii.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. obedience

   Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of "social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure". Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which is behavior influenced by peers, and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the majority. Depending on context, obedience can be seen as moral, immoral, or amoral. Humans have been shown to be obedient in the presence of perceived legitimate authority figures, as shown by the Milgram experiment in the 1960s, which was carried out by Stanley Milgram to find out how the Nazis managed to get ordinary people to take part in the mass murders of the Holocaust. The experiment showed that obedience to authority was the norm, not the exception. Regarding obedience, Milgram said that "Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to. Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and it is only the man dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, through defiance or submission, to the commands of others." A similar conclusion was reached in the Stanford prison experiment.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. obedience

   Obedience can be defined as the act of following instructions, orders, or commands from a person with authority or higher rank, without question or resistance. It involves willingly submitting to the authority and conforming to their wishes or direction. Obedience typically implies compliance and adherence to rules, regulations, or established standards set by someone in a position of power.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 7 votes

1. Obediencenoun

   the act of obeying, or the state of being obedient; compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control

2. Obediencenoun

   words or actions denoting submission to authority; dutifulness

3. Obediencenoun

   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

4. Obediencenoun

   a cell (or offshoot of a larger monastery) governed by a prior

5. Obediencenoun

   one of the three monastic vows

6. Obediencenoun

   the written precept of a superior in a religious order or congregation to a subject

7. Etymology: [F. obdience, L. obedientia, oboedientia. See Obedient, and cf. Obeisance.]

WikidataRate this definition:4.7 / 6 votes

1. Obedience

   Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of "social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure" Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which is behavior influenced by peers, and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the majority. Obedience can be seen as both a sin and a virtue. For example in a situation when one orders a person to kill another innocent person and he or she does this willingly, it is generally considered to be a sin. However when one orders a person to kill an enemy who will end a lot of innocent lives and he or she does this willingly it can be deemed a virtue. Humans have been shown to be surprisingly obedient in the presence of perceived legitimate authority figures, as shown by the Milgram experiment in the 1960s, which was carried-out by Stanley Milgram to find how the Nazis managed to get ordinary people to take part in the mass murders of the Holocaust. The experiment showed that obedience to authority was the norm, not the exception. Regarding obedience, Stanley Milgram said that "Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to; Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and it is only the man dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, through defiance or submission, to the commands of others." A similar conclusion was reached in the Stanford prison experiment.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Obedience

   ō-bē′di-ens, n. state of being obedient: willingness to obey commands: dutifulness: the collective body of persons subject to any particular authority: a written instruction from the superior of an order to those under him: any official position under an abbot's jurisdiction.—adjs. Obē′dient, willing to obey; Obēdien′tial, submissive: obligatory.—adv. Obē′diently.—Canonical obedience, the obedience, as regulated by the canons, of an ecclesiastic to another of higher rank; Passive obedience, unresisting and unquestioning obedience to authority, like that taught by some Anglican divines as due even to faithless and worthless kings like Charles II. and James II.

The Roycroft DictionaryRate this definition:2.7 / 3 votes

1. obedience

   1. Expectation on a monument. 2. A dignified retreat from Balaklava. 3. Lex Talionis playing 'possum. 4. The second law of Nature, the first being murder. _E. g._, "After all, it was my brother's Obedience to the Lord that laid the foundation of my glory."--From Cain's _Diary of an Altar-Wrecker_.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. obedience

   (Fr. obéissance). Submission to the orders of a superior. The first principle which ought to be inculcated and impressed upon the mind of every officer and soldier is obedience to all lawful commands. It is the mainspring, the soul and essence of military duty. It is evident that if all officers and soldiers are to judge when an order is lawful and when not, the captious and mutinous would never be at loss for a plea to justify their insubordination. It is, therefore, an established principle, that unless an order is so manifestly against law that the question does not admit of dispute, the order must first be obeyed by the inferior, and he must subsequently seek such redress against his superior as the laws allow. If the inferior disputes the legality before obedience, error of judgment is never admitted in mitigation of the offense. The redress now afforded by the laws to inferiors is not, however, sufficient; for doubtful questions of the construction of statutes, instead of being referred to the Federal courts of law for their true exposition, have received variable expositions from the executive, and left the army in an unfortunate state of uncertainty as to the true meaning of certain laws; and this uncertainty has been most unfavorable to discipline. Again, while the punishment of death is meted to officers and soldiers for disobedience of lawful commands, the law does not protect officers and soldiers for obeying unlawful commands. Instances have occurred in the United States, where officers and soldiers have been subjected to vexatious prosecutions, simply for obeying orders according to their oath of office. Would it not be just if the law, instead of requiring officers and soldiers thus nicely to steer between Scylla and Charybdis, should hold the superior who gives an illegal order alone responsible for its execution?

Matched Categories

1. • Submission
   • Tractability

How to pronounce obedience?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say obedience in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of obedience in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of obedience in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of obedience in a Sentence

1. Sue Vinton:

   Freedom in this body involves obedience to all the rules of this body, including the rules of decorum.

2. John Kirby:

   The President conflates the obedience of the troops with political alignment and does not realize they are not political supporters of The President, they are subordinates.

3. William Hendrikson (1911-1982):

   "Harmony, accordingly, has been restored. Peace was made. Through Christ and his cross the universe is brought back or restored to its proper relationship to God in the sense that as a just reward for his obedience Christ was exalted to the Father’s right hand, from which position of authority and power He rules the entire universe in the interest of the church and to the glory of God." (on Colossians 1:20)

4. The United:

   In today's world where many countries waste time dealing with The United States with submission and blind obedience, there's only our country on this planet that can shake the world by firing a missile with the The United States mainland in its range, there are more than 200 countries in the world, but only a few have hydrogen bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles.

5. Robert Benchley:

   A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=obedience
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Obedience
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=obedience
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obedience
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obedience
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=obedience
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=obedience
9. ^ The Roycroft Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36566/36566-h/36566-h.htm#:~:text=obedience
10. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html