different between obey vs subject

English

Etymology

From Middle English obeyen, from Anglo-Norman obeir, obeier et al., Old French obeir, from Latin oboedi? (also ob?di? (“to listen to, harken, usually in extended sense, obey, be subject to, serve”)), from ob- (“before, near”) + audi? (“to hear”). Compare audient. In Latin, ob + audire would have been expected to become Classical Latin *ob?di? (compare in + claud? becoming incl?d?), but it has been theorized that the usual law court associations of the word for obeying encouraged a false archaism from ? to oe, to oboedi? (compare Old Latin oinos ? Classical Latin ?nus).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /o??be?/, /??be?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???be?/, /??be?/
• Rhymes: -e?
• Hyphenation: obey

Verb

obey (third-person singular simple present obeys, present participle obeying, simple past and past participle obeyed)

1. (transitive) To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
2. (intransitive) To do as one is told.
3. (obsolete, intransitive) To be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.iv:

     They were all taught by Triton, to obay / To the long raynes, at her commaundement [...].

Synonyms

• hearken

Antonyms

• disobey
• defy
• rebel
• resist
• violate (especially rules)

Related terms

• obedience
• obedient
• obeisance

Translations

Further reading

• obey in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obey in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

References

Anagrams

• e-boy, yebo

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English subget, from Old French suget, from Latin subiectus (“lying under or near, adjacent, also subject, exposed”), as a noun, subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subici? (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaci? (“throw, hurl”), as a calque of Ancient Greek ??????????? (hupokeímenon).

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?b?j?kt, IPA^(key): /?s?b.d??kt/
• (also) (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?b.d??kt/
• Hyphenation: sub?ject

Adjective

subject (comparative more subject, superlative most subject)

1. Likely to be affected by or to experience something.
   • c. 1678 (written), 1682 (published), John Dryden, Mac Flecknoe

     All human things are subject to decay.

2. Conditional upon something; used with to.

3. Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
4. Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
   • , Book I

     Esau was never subject to Jacob.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Latin subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subici? (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaci? (“throw, hurl”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?b?j?kt, IPA^(key): /?s?b.d??kt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?b.d??kt/
• Hyphenation: sub?ject

Noun

subject (plural subjects)

2. (grammar) In a clause: the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are usually the same.

3. An actor; one who takes action.

   The subjects and objects of power.

4. The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     Make choice of a subject beautifull and noble, which […] shall […] afford […] an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate itself.
5. A particular area of study.
6. A citizen in a monarchy.

7. A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
8. (music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
   • 1878, William Smith Rockstro, "Subject" in A Dictionary of Music and Musicians

     The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.

9. A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
   • 1748, Conyers Middleton, Life of Cicero

     Writers of particular lives […] are apt to be prejudiced in favour of their subject.
10. (philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
11. (logic) That of which something is stated.
12. (mathematics) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.

Synonyms

• (discussion): matter, topic

Derived terms

• between-subjects
• subject matter
• subject title
• subjective
• within-subjects

Translations

See also

• object
• predicate

Etymology 3

From Medieval Latin subiect?, iterative of subici? (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaci? (“throw, hurl”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?b-j?kt?, IPA^(key): /s?b?d??kt/, /s?b?d??kt/
• Rhymes: -?kt

Verb

subject (third-person singular simple present subjects, present participle subjecting, simple past and past participle subjected)

1. (transitive, construed with to) To cause (someone or something) to undergo a particular experience, especially one that is unpleasant or unwanted.

   I came here to buy souvenirs, not to be subjected to a tirade of abuse!

2. (transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.

Synonyms

• underbring

Translations

Further reading

• subject in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• subject in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• subject at OneLook Dictionary Search