(a) The virtue of obedience; submission to a higher power or authority; the practice of being obedient; also, service; (b) in (bi, of) ~, obediently; ~ of, obedience to (sb. or sth.); don ~ to, to obey (sb.); holden ~, be obedient; obeien ~, obey commandments; sones of ~, followers of Christ; fruit of ~, laue of ~; (c) the obeying of a specific command; breken ~, to disobey a command or rule; (d) the vow of obedience taken by a member of a religious order; the vows of a religious order; obedience to such vow(s; also personif.; (e) under ~, faithful to one's vow of obedience or to one's religious vows; out of ~, in violation of the rules of an order; in (bi, of) ~, in vertu of ~, by virtue of one's vow of obedience, because of that vow, for the sake of that vow; bi vertu of ~ = in vertu of ~; loosely used [quot.: (a1438)]; liven in ~, to live according to the rules of an order; maken ~, take monastic vows; obeien ~, obey the rules of an order; (f) with reference to: responsiveness, susceptibility to the influence of stars or heat; (g) the power or authority to exact obedience; under ~, under control, under the control (of sb. or sth.); law-abiding; putten into ~ of, to subjugate (sth.) to (sb.).