Etymologically
Log in

obéir

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔ.be.iʁ/[1]

Forms

obéir[1] The Académie spelt it obeïr (1694), obéïr (1718), obéir from 1740.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin oboediō (“to listen to; to obey”), from ob- (“before”) and audiō (“to hear”) (see ouïr), with an obscure diphthong /oe/ where /u/ would be expected.[2][3][4][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg say it was borrowed as a church and legal term.[7] Cognate with Italian ubbidire, Occitan obezir and Catalan obeir.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benedeit's Voyage de saint Brendan (about 1112) has cumandet eals lui obeir, of submitting to someone's will.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The old transitive use obéir quelqu'un (about 1160) disappeared in the 17th century, leaving only the passive être obéi.[3] Lanfranc (1377) uses it of things that yield to an action, as tissues to a treatment.[2][8] Ronsard (1550) has it for giving way to an impulse, and La Fontaine (1671) of a machine or a horse responding to a command.[2][5]

Senses such as “to agree to” (1310) and “to undertake to” disappeared in the 16th century.[3] The reflexive s'obéir à soi-même “to follow one's own reason” is in Boiste's dictionary (1823).[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1112 – Benedeit's Voyage de saint Brendan.[2]
  • c. 1160 – Transitive obéir quelqu'un.[3]
  • 1270 – The noun obéissance.[7][3]
  • c. 1280 – Désobéir.[7]
  • 1377 – Of things, in Lanfranc.[2]
  • 1550 – “To yield to an impulse”, in Ronsard.[2]
  • 1671 – Of something that responds to control, in La Fontaine.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Obéir à quelqu'un: to obey: enfant qui obéit à ses parents, se faire obéir, to make oneself obeyed.[10][11]
  2. Obéir à quelque chose: to comply with, follow: obéir à un ordre, obéir aux lois.[10][1]
  3. To yield to (an impulse, a feeling): obéir à ses instincts.[5][10]
  4. Of a thing, to be subject to (a force or law); of a machine or animal, to respond: le cheval obéit à l'éperon.[5][8]

Word family

  • obéissance
  • obéissant
  • désobéir

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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 c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 276b
  7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)