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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > OBEISANCE

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connect today's word to others:

Here's a neat fact: the words obey, obedient, and obeisance all come from a Latin word that literally means "to listen to." The core of obeying, it seems, is listening.

Obeying, or obedience, is the behavior, the act of listening and doing what you're told, while obeisance is the underlying feeling or attitude of humble respect. That is, if you pay obeisance to someone, you're displaying your humble respect, maybe by bowing or kneeling. It's something that humans and maybe dogs do--definitely not cats or, you know, ravens:

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

Y'all, I'm rubbing my palms together in excitement, because this is Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

Is that poem overwritten? Is it grandiloquent? Does it reek of the inkhorn? Yes, yes, and yes. Let's see some more!

Try completing the lines below from "The Raven" with words we've studied before:

1. Insert a word that means "unnamed, or unknown to most people:"

  For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
N_____ here for evermore.

2. Insert a word that means "someone's overall appearance or attitude:"

  Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with m_ of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—

3. And "charming or entertaining in an almost magical way:"

  Then this ebony bird b___ing my sad fancy into smiling,

4. "Things expressing sadness for the dead:"

  Till the ds of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never—nevermore’.

5. "Moving in a quick, light way:"

  And the Raven, never fing, still is sitting, still is sitting

6. Finally, "pale and sickly:"

  On the p_ bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

If you're the mood to read the whole poem, you can find it here. Now, onto obeisance!

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

make your point with...

"OBEISANCE"

Obeisance is **a humble, respectful, obedient attitude toward some authority.**

Obeisance can also be a display of humble, respectful obedience, like bowing, kneeling, or curtsying.

More loosely, obeisance can be homage: that is, it can be something you say or do to acknowledge or show respect to some specific thing or idea.

Pronunciation:
oh BAY sunce

Part of speech:
Noun, usually the uncountable kind:
"their obeisance to him," "they pay obeisance to it."

Other forms:
The adjective is "obeisant" (oh BAY sunt);
the adverb, "obeisantly" (oh BAY sunt lee).

How is it different from "obedience"?
They both have a religious flavor, but in general, "obedience" is the act or habit of doing what you're told, while "obeisance" is the attitude of respect or a demonstration of respect.

How to use it:

Use this formal, literary word to be either straightforward or sarcastic.

The tone of the word is quite serious, but neutral...until you go adding nasty adjectives: slavish obeisance, craven obeisance, fawning obeisance, unquestioning obeisance, etc.

Talk about people paying, making, or showing obeisance to someone or something.

Or, talk about people doing something in or with obeisance (again, often to someone or something).

You can also talk about someone's obeisance (my obeisance, his obeisance, the fans' obeisance), often to whoever or whatever (the fans' obeisance to Beyoncé).

Finally, you can talk about people expecting, demanding, receiving, rejecting, or reveling in obeisance.

examples:

In what became a famous speech, the Seneca orator Red Jacket refused to make obeisance to a cruel and hypocritical religion.

"Mr Posner thinks most judges are lousy writers who rely unduly on their clerks and are 'stuck in the past', paying obeisance to fusty traditions."
— The Economist, 9 September 2017

study it:

Explain the meaning of "obeisance" without saying "homage" or "deference."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "Rather than make unquestioning obeisance to _, we should _."

Serious example: "Rather than make unquestioning obeisance to our professors and their opinions, we should explore opposing ideas and make our own judgments."

Lighthearted example: "Rather than make unquestioning obeisance to the Top 40, we should find music we love from any source."

before you review, play:

Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.

**Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, Jeopardy!"

In each issue, I'll create three "answers" for you, and you supply the "questions." (That is, you'll respond in the form of a question, like "What is...?" or "Who is...?")

From the previous issue:

1. Category: "N"ine-Letter Words.
Answer: It's a poet's word for dusk or twilight.
Question: What is "nightfall"?

2. Category: Anagrammed Appetizers.
Answer: They'll fly off the plate: Swing.
Question: What are wings?

3. Category: Stoned Bands.
Answer: Wild horses couldn't drag them away: they've been rolling strong since 1962.
Question: Who are the Rolling Stones?

Try these today:**

1. Category: Anagrammed Appetizers.
Answer: Stuffed and baked, and here’s their fun guise: Oms humors.

2. Category: Stoned Bands.
Answer: Known affectionately as STP, this American band grew out of the grunge movement to release several albums, including Shangri-La Dee Da.

3. Category: Spicy Spelling.
Answer: This is how you spell the pungent powder made from the seeds of South American species of Capsicum—not phonetically, as "ky yen."

review today's word:

1. The opposite of OBEISANCE is

A. GLIMMER.
B. COMFORT.
C. DEFIANCE.

2. He surrounds himself with obeisant _ who provide him no ___.

A. friends .. lip service
B. followers .. reality checks
C. assistants .. relief from their critical chatter

Answers are below.

a final word:

Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From Liesl's blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.

To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Answers to review questions:
1. C
2. B

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