different between obeisance vs worship

English

Alternative forms

• obeisaunce, obeissance, abaisance (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English obeisaunce (“obedience, obeisance”), from Old French obeïssance, derived from obeïssant (“obedient”), participle of obeïr (“to obey”), from Latin oboedire, obedire; ob- (“to, for”) + audire (“to hear”). Cognate with obedience.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o??be?s?ns/, /o??bi?s?ns/, /??be?s?ns/, /??bi?s?ns/
• Hyphenation: o?bei?sance
• Rhymes: -e?s?ns

Noun

obeisance (countable and uncountable, plural obeisances)

1. Demonstration of an obedient attitude, especially by bowing deeply; a deep bow which demonstrates such an attitude.
   • 1915, Edward Plunkett, Lord Dunsany, Fifty-One Tales:

     But looking upwards in the blaze of the moon I suddenly saw colossi sitting near, and towering up and blotting out the stars and filling the night with blackness; and at those idols’ feet I saw praying and making obeisance kings and the days that are and all times and all cities and all nations and all their gods.

   • 1962, J. L. Austin, How To Do Things With Words (OUP paperback edition), p. 69:

     The situation in the case of actions which are non-linguistic but similar to performative utterances in that they are the performance of a conventional action (here ritual or ceremonial) is rather like this: suppose I bow deeply before you; it might not be clear whether I am doing obeisance to you or, say, stooping to observe the flora or to ease my indigestion.

2. An obedient attitude.

Usage notes

• Usually in the phrases do obeisance or make obeisance.

Translations

See also

• kiss someone's ring

English

Alternative forms

• wurship (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English worschippe, worthschipe, from Old English weorþs?ipe; synchronically analyzable as worth (“worthy, honorable”) +? -ship. Cognate with Scots worschip (“worship”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w????p/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w???p/, /?w????p/
• Hyphenation: wor?ship

Noun

worship (usually uncountable, plural worships)

1. (obsolete) The condition of being worthy; honour, distinction.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.3:

     Then he forth on his journey did proceede, / To seeke adventures which mote him befall, / And win him worship through his warlike deed […].

2. The devotion accorded to a deity or to a sacred object.
3. The religious ceremonies that express this devotion.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of Being Religious

     The worship of God is an eminent part of religion, and prayer is a chief part of religious worship.

4. (by extension) Voluntary, utter submission; voluntary, utter deference.
5. (also by extension) Ardent love.
6. An object of worship.
   • 1882 or later, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Michel Angelo

     In attitude and aspect formed to be / At once the artist's worship and despair.

7. Honour; respect; civil deference.
   • Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

8. (chiefly British) Used as a title or term of address for various officials, including magistrates

Synonyms

• adoration
• reverence
• idolatry

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

worship (third-person singular simple present worships, present participle (Commonwealth) worshipping or (US) worshiping, simple past and past participle (Commonwealth) worshipped or (US) worshiped or (obsolete) worshipt)

1. (transitive) To reverence (a deity, etc.) with supreme respect and veneration; to perform religious exercises in honour of.
   • 1655, John Milton, Sonnet 18

     When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones.

2. (transitive) To honour with extravagant love and extreme submission, as a lover; to adore; to idolize.
   • a. 1639, Thomas Carew, A Cruell Mistris

     With bended knees I daily worship her.

3. (intransitive) To participate in religious ceremonies.

Derived terms

• worship the porcelain god

Translations

References

• worship at OneLook Dictionary Search