obédience

Forms

obédience f (plural obédiences)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin oboedientia (“obedience, submission”), a derivative of the present participle of oboediō (“to obey”), the source of obéir.^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg note that it was borrowed for a special, ecclesiastical sense.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace uses it about 1155 in the Roman de Brut, for the obedience a monk owes to his superior.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In a religious setting the word passed by metonymy to a house dependent on a monastery (Chrétien de Troyes, 1174–1180), to the written leave a superior gave a monk to travel (1617) and to a monk's or nun's particular duty within the convent (1680).^[2][3] These uses have aged, except lettre d'obédience (1850), a letter that vouched for the competence of members of the teaching orders, notably under the Falloux law.^[3][2][7] In church history it names the group of countries that, in times of schism, recognized one or another of the rival popes; there were also the ambassade d'obédience (1675) sent to the pope to show filial obedience, and the pays d'obédience (1690).^[3][2]

The general sense “obedience” (about 1175) never took hold against obéissance.^[3] Today the word mostly refers to allegiance to a spiritual or, since the 20th century, political authority or doctrine, and in Freemasonry to a group of lodges.^[3][7][1]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – Wace uses it of a monk's obedience to his superior.^[2][3]
• c. 1175 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for obedience in general.^[2]
• 1174–1180 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for a dependent religious house.^[2][3]
• 1617 – D'Aubigné uses it for a superior's written leave to travel.^[2][3]
• 1675 – Ambassade d'obédience is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records ambassadeur d'obédience and pays d'obédience.^[2]
• 1850 – Lettre d'obédience is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (religion) A monk's or nun's obedience to a superior or a rule; also a religious house dependent on a principal house.^[8][2]
2. (dated) A superior's written leave or order to a religious; also a religious person's particular duty in the convent.^[7][2][9]
3. (literary) Obedience, submission.^[8][1]
4. Allegiance to a spiritual, political or philosophical authority or doctrine: de stricte obédience, un parti d'obédience libérale.^[8][7][1]
5. (Freemasonry) A group of lodges under one Grand Lodge or Grand Orient.^[7][1]
6. (church history) In times of schism, the countries that recognized one of the rival popes.^[7][2]

Word family

• obédiencier
• obédientiel

Related words

• obéir
• obéissance
• Latin oboedientia

Usage notes

Lettre d'obédience was a letter from a superior that, under the Falloux law of 1850, took the place of a teaching certificate for members of teaching congregations.^[7][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette