obedient, a. (n.)
(əʊˈbiːdɪənt)
Also 4–6 -yent, 5–6 -iente, 5 obeydyand, 6 obœdient.
[a. OF. obédient (11th c. in Godef.), ad. L. obēdient-em, pr. pple. of obēdire to obey.]
A. adj.
1. a. That obeys or is willing to obey; submissive to the will of a superior; complying with or carrying out a command or commands; doing what one is bidden; subservient; dutiful.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 424 Boðe beon obedient to hore dame in alle þinges, bute ine sunne one. 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. ii. 9 That I knowe..wher in alle thingis ȝe ben obedyent. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 1944 Lovyd ay God..And to hym ever obeydyand were. 1535 Coverdale Ps. civ. [cv.] 28 They were not obedient vnto his worde. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 158 The obedient executor of your commands. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 246 Such delight hath God in Men Obedient to his Will. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. (1841) I. Introd. 1 To be made obedient to what they have already learnt. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth x, He lacks the homage and obedient affection which the poorest yeoman receives from his family. 1833 Alison Hist. Europe (1849–53) I. iv. §123. 561 The armed force..is essentially obedient—it acts, but should never deliberate. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 702 They were obedient to the laws. |
† b. Owning, or subject to, the rule of another as sovereign or superior; subject. Obs.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4072 Ne fra þan sal na man be bughsome, Ne obedient to þe kirk of Rome. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iii. 16 Contreys that ben obedyent to the Emperour. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. 5 (Harl. MS.) A spirit obediente to a new gouernaunce. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 30/2 [It] is not obedient to the chyrch of Rome. |
c. Conventionally used as an expression of respect or courtesy, esp. at leave-taking, or in the conclusion of a letter; in phr. your obedient servant.
| a 1548 Hall Chron. Hen. VIII 137 This subscribed by your humble and obedient sonne Frances. 1681 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. IV. 66, I am so entirely myself as being, Sir, Your most obedient and most devoted servant, Z. Isham. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. i. i, Snake..Mr. Surface, your most obedient. (Exit.) Jos. Mr. Snake, your most obedient. 1781 Cowper Truth 212 Reduce his wages, or get rid of her, Tom quits you, with—‘Your most obedient, Sir’. 1885 Times 24 Nov. 10/4 You will greatly oblige, Sir, Your obedient servant. |
† 2. Astrol. Said of certain signs of the zodiac, etc.: Subject; see obey v. 5. Obs.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 132 Which [the star Botercadent] of his kinde obedient Is to Mercurie and to Venus. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §28 Thise crokede signes ben obedient to the signes þat ben of riht Assencioun. |
† 3. Yielding to desires or wishes; compliant. Obs.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 188 Obedient as breþeren and sustren to oþere. 1497 Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. C ij b/1 Yf we be obedyent unto our hedes, god is obedient unto our prayers. |
4. fig. (chiefly of things or involuntary agents): Moving or yielding as actuated or affected by something else.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P. R. xvi. lxxiv. (Bodl. MS.) He findeþ mater more able and obedient to his worchinge þe more noble impression he prenteþ þerein. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 43 b, Other efficient causes that are obedient, are but instrumentes of doyng, as Hatchettes, Hammers. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 87 My wife and I..floating..obedient to the streame, Was carried towards Corinth, as we thought. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 27/1 The Ash is accounted very obedient in all manner of Works. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. vii. 344 Soldiers live upon an element much more obedient to man. |
5. obedient plant = physostegia.
| 1948 F. Perry Herbaceous Border v. 103 P[hysostegia] virginiana, sometimes known as the Obedient Plant because the individual sage-like blossoms on the flower spikes may be moved from side to side and remain as placed. 1971 J. Raven Botanist's Garden xi. 201 A curious plant, of better value perhaps for the entertainment it affords children than for beauty, called the obedient plant or Physostegia virginiana. |
† B. n. One who is obedient or subject to authority; a subordinate: see quots. Obs.
| 1626 C. Potter tr. Father Paul's Hist. ii. 81 Apt to condemne and reprehend any action whatsoeuer, if it were not done with their knowledge and counsell, as also to iustifie all the actions of their Obedients. 1662 Ray Three Itin. ii. 159 Here [Glasgow] are most commonly about forty students of the first year, which they call obedients. |