obedire

Obbedire is an Italian verb meaning to obey, to comply with orders, rules, or authority. It is a transitive verb that typically takes a complement introduced by the preposition a, or a direct object referring to the authority or command to follow. Common usages include obbedire agli ordini, obbedire alle leggi, or obbedire al proprio capo. The verb is often contrasted with disobbedire, meaning to disobey.

Etymology and related forms: Obbedire derives from the Latin oboedire, formed from ob- “toward” and audire “to hear,” reflecting the sense of listening to commands and acting accordingly. The noun obbedienza denotes obedience, while the adjective obbediente describes someone who is obedient.

Conjugation overview: In the present indicative the forms are obbedisco, obbedisci, obbedisce, obbediamo, obbedite, obbediscono. The passato prossimo is formed with avere: ho obbedito, hai obbedito, ha obbedito, abbiamo obbedito, avete obbedito, hanno obbedito. The imperfect is obbedivo, obbedivi, obbediva, obbedivamo, obbedivate, obbedivano; the future is obbedirò, obbedirai, obbedirà, obbediremo, obbedirete, obbediranno. The conditional is obbedirei, obbediresti, obbedirebbe, obbediremmo, obbedireste, obbedirebbero. The present subjunctive is obbedisca, obbedisca, obbedisca, obbediamo, obbediate, obbediscano. The imperative forms are obbedisci (tu), obbedisca (Lei), obbediamo (noi), obbedite (voi), obbediscano (essi).

Usage notes: Obbedire is commonly used with a to-infinitive or with a noun phrase naming what is to be obeyed (e.g., agli ordini, alle leggi). It appears in phrases describing compliance, discipline, or authority relations, and its opposite, disobbedire, is used for failure to comply.

See also: Disobbedire.