noun
- the state or quality of being obedient.
- the act or practice of obeying; dutiful or submissive compliance: Military service demands obedience from its members.
- a sphere of authority or jurisdiction, especially ecclesiastical.
- Chiefly Ecclesiastical.
- conformity to a monastic rule or the authority of a religious superior, especially on the part of one who has vowed such conformance.
- the rule or authority that exacts such conformance.
noun
- the condition or quality of being obedient
- the act or an instance of obeying; dutiful or submissive behaviour
- the authority vested in a Church or similar body
- the collective group of persons submitting to this authoritySee also passive obedience
n.c.1200, “submission to a higher power or authority,” from Old French obedience “obedience, submission” (12c.) and directly from Latin oboedientia “obedience,” noun of quality from oboedientem (nominative oboediens); see obedient. In reference to dog training from 1930.