English▸ verb [with object] submit to the authority of (someone) or comply with (a law):
I always obey my father.
▪ carry out (a command or instruction):
the officer was convicted for refusing to obey orders
[no object] when the order was repeated, he refused to obey.
▪ behave in accordance with (a general principle, natural law, etc.):
the universe was complex but it obeyed certain rules.
– ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French obeir, from Latin oboedire, from ob- ‘in the direction of’ + audire ‘hear’.