Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A gesture or movement of the body, such as a curtsy, that expresses deference or homage.
- n. An attitude of deference or homage.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Authority; subjection; power or right to demand obedience.
- n. Obedience.
- n. Deferential deportment.
- n. A bow or courtesy; an act of reverence, dutifulness, or deference.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. obsolete Obedience.
- n. Deference or homage, or an expression of deference or respect; a bow; a curtsy.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person
- n. bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame or greeting
Etymologies
- 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"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English obeisaunce, from Old French obeissance, from obeissant, present participle of obeir, to obey; see obey. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It was a knee-jerk design modification made in obeisance to the myth that Americans hate hatchbacks.”
The Washington Post: The Volkswagen Jetta's graceful ride back down to earth
“March 26th, 2010 at 1: 59 pm tombaker says: obeisance is freedom!”
“I bow in obeisance: They implemented the classic game Defender … in a favicon.”
“Consistent with your view that Congressmen pass laws in obeisance with their oath, I assume that those same Congressman did the same when passing broad Commerce Clause legislation.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Cass Sunstein Responds to “Constitution in Exile” Post:
“And the feeling for those he loved survived them, and it is monstrous to represent its unspoken and controlled/[Page xxxiv]/expression in obeisance and gesture as a sign of "agonising remorse.”
“Thou knowest with what joy I roamed over thy confines, and beheld the universal beauty that then was spread around; how tenderly I whispered through thy flowers, how joyfully I carried up their fragrant odours as a thank-offering to heaven; how merrily I sported on the hills, or taught the branches of thy lofty trees to bow, as in obeisance to Him who made them!”
“The kek would sweep inwards as the van roared along the lane; bowing in obeisance.”
“The business recalls the obeisance to certain Italian gentlemen once required of American presidential candidates.”
“The business recalls the obeisance to certain Italian gentlemen once required of American presidential candidates, Jenkins wrote, adding:”
“And no American head of state should show "obeisance" to another head of state.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘obeisance’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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250 Extra Spelling Words
Some more words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
cultellarius, barouche, palanquin, badelaire, cavetto, tregetour, tergiversate, rhododendron, rhadamanthine, thyrsus, cappelletti, bradycardia and 238 more...
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EN - archaic words
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 328 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
Laban, circumcise, beget, Esau, Rebekah, speckle, Sodom, Pharaoh, Canaanite, Canaan, Jacob, Lot and 1286 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Good mouth feel words
just like it sounds
detritus, qua, denouement, translucent, obsequious, prismatic, Lanquidity, interestingness, dailiness, messily, liquefy, randomalia and 6 more...
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words I learned from Firefly
Joss Whedon knows no shame
fancible, foufaraw, frippery, corpsified, shindig, rutting, creepifying, gorram, ironical, sanguine, pantywaist ijit, whinge and 24 more...
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ash vocab
flippant, fillip, expiate, explicate, extirpate, facile, florid, fealty, allegiance, fetid, febrile, pert and 134 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, O
opacity, opaline, olfactory, orthoepy, orthoepy, oleaginous, obloquy, oasitic, obtrude, orthotic, overweening, ostinato and 125 more...
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Good Words
fenestering, cetic, immanent, quickening, archetypal, shibboleth, soma, wetware, heritable, Apotheosis, halcyon, cellar door and 482 more...
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Faves
nepenthe, cupidity, anodyne, obdurate, doleful, obsolescent, quale, piquant, velleity, inchoate, disport, facile and 366 more...
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BonMots
assiduous, progeny, hegemony, nascent, reticent, ephemera, zeitgeist, recalcitrant, copious, corporeal, cacaphonous, obstreperous and 108 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Hitch Words
Words from the lexicon of Christopher Hitchens
propinquity, fratricide, factitious, vitiate, sectarianism, ostensible, atavistic, sephardic, doyen, palpable, encephalitic, fastidious and 188 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for obeisance.
oroboros Well, you learn something new everyday, right? Always thought this was pronounced oh-bee-YAY-sense! Feb 19, 2007