O-bey', v. t.
(o-bā'), v. t. [imp. & p. p. OBEYED; p. pr. & vb. n. OBEYING.] [Fr. obéir, from Lat. obedire, O. Lat. oboedire, from prefix ob and audire, to hear; Catalan obeir, Pr. obedīr, obezir, It. obbedire, obbedire, ubbidire, Sp. & Pg. obedecer.]
Sense 1. To give ear to; to execute the commands of; to yield submission to; to comply with the orders of.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Eph. vi. 1.
Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey? Milton.
Sense 2. To submit to the government of; to be ruled by.
Afric and India shall his power obey. Dryden.
Sense 3. To yield to the impulse, power, or operation of; as, a ship obeys her helm.
By some of our old writers it was used as an intransitive verb, in accordance with the French idiom, taking to after it.
He commanded the trumpets to sound: to which the two brave knights obeying, they performed their courses. Sidney.