Talk:obey

etymology of obey

I would like someone to confirm this etymology. It seems legit, but my (elementary) dictionary as well as Perseus mention only the supposedly "less proper" obedire. Possibly, this is folk etymology, esp. the ob + audire portion. 218.186.8.242 05:34, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

• It's fundamentally right. The Romance forms (and English) definitely come from the variant form oboedire (not obaedire as currently given), and everyone seems agreed that this is from ob- + audire. Ƿidsiþ 05:42, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

• • 'Kay, thanks --- (now logged in as) VNNS 08:50, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

Etymology

< Middle English obeyen from Old French obeir < Latin obaedire, less prop. obēdīre, later L. also obaudire, ML. obēdīre (“to listen to, harken, usually in extended sense, obey, be subject to, serve”) < ob- (“before, near”) + audīre (“to hear”); cf. audient.