ōˈbā, əˈ- verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English obeien, from Old French obeir, from Latin oboedire to listen to, obey, from ob- to, toward, over + -oedire (from audire to hear) — more at ob- , audible
transitive verb
1. : to fit one's conduct to and perform as directed or requested by
obey one's parents
obeying a superior's order
2. : to submit to or accord with:
a. : to rule one's conduct in accordance with
the fiercest rebel against society … obeys most of its conventions — H.J.Muller
obeyed his sense of justice even when it ran counter to his own interests — E.M.Violette
b. : to act or react in conformity with
the ship obeyed the helm
concluded that by analogy electrical force also obeyed the inverse square law — S.F.Mason
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to accord with orders or requests and do as told or asked — used with to
obeyed to the king's command
2. : to perform or behave as directed often without question or attempt at independent decision : be obedient
a people gentle, submissive, prompt to obey — Agnes Repplier
Synonyms:
mind , comply : obey is the general term indicating to accord with another's commands or wishes
obey one's father
obey orders
It may suggest lack of questioning or attempting independent judgment
hear and obey
the submissive way of one long accustomed to obey under coercion — Charles Dickens
obey is wider in application than mind or comply since it may be used in reference to laws, principles, moral forces, abstractions
what obeys reason, is free — John Milton
obey at all costs the call of what was felt as truth — Havelock Ellis
As a synonym for obey mind is likely to be used in connection with children or juniors; it often suggests admonition to an inferior, ward, or charge
mind your mother
children refusing to mind their teachers
comply may suggest a yielding or giving in to another's wishes or orders or to rules or requirements, perhaps through complaisance or lack of strong opinion
should you think ill of that person for complying … without waiting to be argued into it — Jane Austen
on being invited by the brute to go outside, what could he do but comply — Arnold Bennett