[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

obedience \obe"dience\, n. f. ob'edience, l. obedientia,
   oboedientia. see obedient, and cf. obeisance.
   1. the act of obeying, or the state of being obedient;
      compliance with that which is required by authority;
      subjection to rightful restraint or control.
      1913 webster

            government must compel the obedience of individuals.
                                                  --ames.
      1913 webster

   2. words or actions denoting submission to authority;
      dutifulness. --shak.
      1913 webster

   3. eccl.
      a a following; a body of adherents; as, the roman
          catholic obedience, or the whole body of persons who
          submit to the authority of the pope.
      b a cell or offshoot of a larger monastery governed by
          a prior.
      c one of the three monastic vows. --shipley.
      d the written precept of a superior in a religious order
          or congregation to a subject.
          1913 webster

   canonical obedience. see under canonical.

   passive obedience. see under passive.
      1913 webster
see also:
obedient obeisance canonical obedience canonical passive obedience passive 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

priory \pri"ory\, n.; pl. priories. cf. ll. prioria. see
   prior, n.
   a religious house presided over by a prior or prioress; --
   sometimes an offshoot of, an subordinate to, an abbey, and
   called also cell, and obedience. see cell, 2.
   1913 webster

   note: of such houses there were two sorts: one where the
         prior was chosen by the inmates, and governed as
         independently as an abbot in an abbey; the other where
         the priory was subordinate to an abbey, and the prior
         was placed or displaced at the will of the abbot.
         1913 webster

   alien priory, a small religious house dependent on a large
      monastery in some other country.
      1913 webster

   syn: see cloister.
        1913 webster
see also:
priories prior cell obedience cell alien priory 
cloister 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

obedience
     n 1: the act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with
          respect to another person syn: obeisance ant: disobedience
     2: the trait of being willing to obey ant: disobedience
     3: behavior intended to please your parents; "their children
        were never very strong on obedience"; "he went to law
        school out of respect for his father's wishes" syn: respect
see also:
obeisance disobedience respect 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

68 moby thesaurus words for "obedience":
   quakerism, acceptance, accommodation, accord, accordance,
   acquiescence, adaptability, adaptation, adaption, adjustment,
   agreeability, agreeableness, agreement, amenability, assent,
   complaisance, compliance, conformance,
   conformation other-direction, conformity, congruity, consent,
   consistency, conventionality, correspondence, deference, docility,
   dutifulness, flexibility, harmony, homage, humbleness, humility,
   keeping, kneeling, line, malleability, meekness, nonopposal,
   nonopposition, nonresistance, nonviolent resistance, obeisance,
   observance, orthodoxy, passive resistance, passiveness, passivity,
   pliancy, quietism, reconcilement, reconciliation, resignation,
   resignedness, respect, respectfulness, strictness, subjection,
   submission, submissiveness, submittal, subservience, supineness,
   tractability, traditionalism, uncomplainingness, uniformity,
   yielding

Obedience >> O Words
Obedience, definition of term: Obedience
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