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act of obeying, or the state of being obedient; compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control. Government must compel the obedience of individuals. Ames.

Subject in will or act to authority; willing to obey; submissive to restraint, control, or command. And floating straight, obedient to the stream. Shak. The chief his orders gives; the obedient band, With due observance, wait the chief's command. Pope.

To submit to the authority of; to be ruled by. My will obeyed his will. Chaucer. Afric and India shall his power obey. Dryden.

ual. Sir. W. Hamilton. Objective has come to mean that which has independent exostence or authority, apart from our experience or thought. Thus, moral law is said to have objective authority, that is, authority belonging to itself, and not drawn from anything in our nature. Calderwood (Fleming's Vocabulary).…

shment; reprehensible; blameworthy. "The contrived and interested schemes of ...obnoxious authors." Bp. Fell. All are obnoxious, and this faulty land, Like fainting Hester, does before you stand Watching your scepter. Waller.

Fig.: The state of being occult. The reappearance of such an author after those long periods of occultation. Jeffrey. Circle of perpetual occultation. See under Circle.

rs. In Scripture, though the word heir occur, yet there is no such thing as "heir" in our author's sense. Locke.

A privilege granted by the sovereign authority, as the exclusive right of trade granted to a guild or society; a concession.

was raised again for our justification. Rom. iv. 25. I have given my opinion against the authority of two great men, but I hope without offense to their memories. Dryden.

A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by authority and for a public purpose; a position of trust or authority; as, an executive or judical office; a municipal office.

Derived from the proper office or officer, or from the proper authority; made or communicated by virtue of authority; as, an official statement or report.

By the proper officer; by virtue of the proper authority; in pursuance of the special powers vested in an officer or office; as, accounts or reports officially vertified or rendered; letters officially communicated; persons officially notified.

Using oppression; tyrannical; as, oppressive authority or commands.

Disgrace; infamy; reproach mingled with contempt; abusive language. Being both dramatic author and dramatic performer, he found himself heir to a twofold opprobrium. De Quincey.

Any person reputed uncommonly wise; one whose decisions are regarded as of great authority; as, a literary oracle. "Oracles of mode." Tennyson. The country rectors . . . thought him an oracle on points of learning. Macaulay.

Resembling an oracle in some way, as in solemnity, wisdom, authority, obscurity, ambiguity, dogmatism. They have something venerable and oracular in that unadorned gravity and shortness in the expression. Pope. -- O*rac"u*lar*ly, adv. -- O*rac"u*lar*ness, n.

That which prescribes a method of procedure; a rule or regulation made by competent authority; as, the rules and orders of the senate. The church hath authority to establish that for an order at one time which at another time it may abolish. Hooker.

Observant of order, authority, or rule; hence, obedient; quiet; peaceable; not unruly; as, orderly children; an orderly community.

A rule established by authority; a permanent rule of action; a statute, law, regulation, rescript, or accepted usage; an edict or decree; esp., a local law enacted by a municipal government; as, a municipal ordinance. Thou wilt die by God's just ordinance. Shak. By custom and the ordinance of times. Shak. Walking in al…

hevron, chief, cross, fesse, pale, and saltire are uniformly admitted as ordinaries. Some authorities include bar, bend sinister, pile, and others. See Subordinary. In ordinary. (a) In actual and constant service; statedly attending and serving; as, a physician or chaplain in ordinary. An ambassador in ordinary is one…