Where does “obedient” come from?
obedient (Middle English) comes from Old French obedient, from Latin oboediēns, from Latin oboedio, from Latin ob-, from Latin obolus, from Ancient Greek ὀβολός, from Ancient Greek ὀβελός, from Ancient Greek βέλος — to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing.
Ancestry of “obedient”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | obedient | obedient |
| 2 | Latin | oboediēns | — |
| 3 | Latin | oboedio | to obey, yield obedience to; to be subject to, to... |
| 4 | Latin | ob- | towards; against |
| 5 | Latin | obolus | obolus |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ὀβολός | obol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ὀβελός | a spit, rod; a horizontal line |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | βέλος | missile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷélHos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷelH- | to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing |