obéir French · revision 17558

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1112, Benedeit, Voyage de saint Brendan|origins=la audiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɔ.be.iʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''obéir'''^(Wiktionary)

+ The Académie spelt it ''obeïr'' (1694), ''obéïr'' (1718), ''obéir'' from 1740.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|oboediō|t=to listen to; to obey]], from [[m|la|ob-|t=before]] and [[m|la|audiō|t=to hear]] (see [[ouïr]]), with an obscure diphthong /oe/ where /u/ would be expected.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|7, 276b) Bloch and Wartburg say it was borrowed as a church and legal term.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Cognate with [[it|ubbidire]], [[oc|obezir]] and [[ca|obeir]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Benedeit's ''Voyage de saint Brendan'' (about 1112) has ''cumandet eals lui obeir'', of submitting to someone's will.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The old transitive use ''obéir quelqu'un'' (about 1160) disappeared in the 17th century, leaving only the passive ''être obéi''.^(DHLF 1992) Lanfranc (1377) uses it of things that yield to an action, as tissues to a treatment.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Ronsard (1550) has it for giving way to an impulse, and La Fontaine (1671) of a machine or a horse responding to a command.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Senses such as “to agree to” (1310) and “to undertake to” disappeared in the 16th century.^(DHLF 1992) The reflexive ''s'obéir à soi-même'' “to follow one's own reason” is in Boiste's dictionary (1823).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1112 – Benedeit's ''Voyage de saint Brendan''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – Transitive ''obéir quelqu'un''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1270 – The noun ''obéissance''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1280 – ''Désobéir''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1377 – Of things, in Lanfranc.^(TLFi)

+ * 1550 – “To yield to an impulse”, in Ronsard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – Of something that responds to control, in La Fontaine.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''Obéir à quelqu'un'': to [[m|en|obey]]: ''enfant qui obéit à ses parents'', ''se faire obéir'', to make oneself obeyed.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''Obéir à quelque chose'': to comply with, follow: ''obéir à un ordre'', ''obéir aux lois''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To yield to (an impulse, a feeling): ''obéir à ses instincts''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Of a thing, to be subject to (a force or law); of a machine or animal, to respond: ''le cheval obéit à l'éperon''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[obéissance]]

+ * [[obéissant]]

+ * [[désobéir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[obédience]]

+ * [[ouïr]]

+ * [[la|oboediō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}