English
obey
Obey comes from Latin oboediō ‘to obey, yield obedience to’, from audiō ‘to hear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- ‘to see, perceive’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ew-1‘to see, perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewis1‘clearly, manifestly’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*awizdiō1‘to hear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudiō2‘to hear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoboediō2‘to obey, yield obedience to’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400obeir2
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400obeir2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500obeyen2
- Englishearliest quotation 1590obey2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin audio
- 2 Wiktionary, English obey
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto IV: “They were all taught by Triton, to obay /…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ew-Wiktionary, Latin audio‘to see, perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewisWiktionary, Latin audio‘clearly, manifestly’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*awizdiōWiktionary, Latin audio‘to hear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudiōWiktionary, English obey‘to hear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoboediōWiktionary, English obey‘to obey, yield obedience to’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400obeirWiktionary, English obey
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400obeirWiktionary, English obey
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500obeyenWiktionary, English obey
- Englishearliest quotation 1590obeyWiktionary, English obey. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto IV: “They were all taught by Triton, to obay /…”
The story
In Latin, ob + audire would have been expected to become Classical Latin *obūdiō (compare in + claudō becoming inclūdō), but it has been theorized that the usual law court associations of the word for obeying encouraged a false archaism from ū to oe, to oboediō (compare Old Latin oinos → Classical Latin ūnus).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- ‘to see, perceive’
love, egg, ear, aviation, acoustic, oval, avid, anesthesia, ovation, avian, auspicious, aviator, aural, ey, avarice, aviary, ocarina, otolaryngology, 64 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewis ‘clearly, manifestly’
through Proto-Italic *awizdiō ‘to hear’
audition, auditorium, auditor, 7 more
through Latin audiō ‘to hear’
audience, audit, audible, 11 more
through Latin oboediō ‘to obey, yield obedience to’
through Old French obeir
Today it means
verb To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “obey”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin audio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- / obey