obéit

Obéit is a term that appears in Romance-language contexts, most notably in Catalan orthography, as the past participle of the verb obeir, meaning “obeyed.” In standard Catalan, the past participle is written obeït, with a diaeresis over the i to indicate that it forms a separate syllable. This form appears in compound tenses, for example ha obeït (has obeyed). The non-diacritic form obeït without the diaeresis is considered nonstandard or a typographical variant; spellings such as obeit or obéit may occur in texts that omit diacritics or in dialectal publications, but they are not the standard form.

Etymology and cognates: The Catalan verb obeir ultimately derives from Latin obœdire, formed from ob- “toward” and audire “to hear,” originally conveying the sense of listening toward in order to comply. The development across Romance languages produced related verbs such as obéir in French, though each language developed its own standard spelling and diacritic usage.

Other uses: Obéit may appear as a surname or as a proper name in literary or fictional contexts, though it is uncommon and not tied to a widely known figure or location. In most references, the term is encountered in discussion of Catalan orthography or as a transliteration variant rather than as a distinct, widely recognized concept.

See also: obeir, obéir, obedience.