GeezerVison

English

WOTD – 30 May 2008

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éps

Proto-Indo-European *-i

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óp(i)

Proto-Italic *op

Latin ob

Latin ob-

Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *sékʷetor

Proto-Italic *sekʷōr

Latin sequor

Latin obsequor

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -iusnom.

Latin -ium

Latin obsequium

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?

Proto-Italic *-ō̆tsos?

Old Latin -ōssus

Latin -ōsus

Latin obsequiōsusbor.

Middle English obsequyous

English obsequious

From Middle English obsequyous, from Latin obsequiōsus (“complaisant, obsequious”),^[1] from obsequium (“compliance”), from obsequor (“comply with, yield to”), from ob (“in the direction of, towards”) + sequor (“follow”) (cf. sequel).

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /əbˈsiːkwi.əs/
Audio (US): (file)

Adjective

obsequious (comparative more obsequious, superlative most obsequious)

Excessively eager and attentive to please or to obey instructions; fawning, subservient, servile.
Synonyms: fawning, ingratiating, servile, slavish, sycophantic, truckling, smarmy, asskissing; see also Thesaurus:sycophantic
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘Those Were the Real Conquests’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 259:
  Personally I felt shy and uncomfortable at this obsequious adoration, and I read the same feeling in the faces of Lord John and Summerlee, but Challenger expanded like a flower in the sun.
- 1927, Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, page 20:
  Translation falls especially short of this conceit which carries the whole flamboyance of the Spanish language. It was intended as an obsequious flattery of the Condesa, and was untrue.
- 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 118:
  [S]he complained pettishly of the heat and the flies and at length of the walk, and reduced Robert to the antics of an obsequious dog.
(archaic) Obedient; compliant with someone else's orders or wishes.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obedient
- 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 140:
  Our ladies were situated as well as it was possible; they had good servants, splendid rooms, obsequious attendants, and had become habituated to the country, so that the loss of the Count was not any thing of moment beyond the pleasure of his society; […]
(obsolete) Of or pertaining to obsequies, funereal.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
  […] the ſuruiuer bound / In filliall obligation for ſome tearme
  To doe obſequious ſorrowe […]

Derived terms

Translations

obedient, compliant with someone else's orders

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: հլու (hy) (hlu), հնազանդ (hy) (hnazand), հլու-հնազանդ (hy) (hlu-hnazand)
Bulgarian: послушен (bg) (poslušen)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 順從的 / 顺从的 (shùncóng de)
Danish: underdanig
Dutch: onderdanig (nl), gehoorzaam (nl), volgzaam (nl)
Finnish: kuuliainen (fi)
French: obéissant (fr), obséquieux (fr)
German: gehorsam (de), folgsam (de), unterwürfig
Hebrew: צייתן m (tsaytán)
Hindi: चापलूस (hi) m (cāplūs), ठकुरसुहात m (ṭhakursuhāt), ख़ुशामदी m (xuśāmdī)
Hungarian: engedelmes (hu)
Latin: obsequiōsus
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: по́корен (pókoren), по́слушен (póslušen)
Māori: patipati
Norwegian:
Bokmål: underdanig (no), servil
Polish: czołobitny (pl), służalczy (pl)
Portuguese: obsequioso (pt)
Romanian: obsecvios (ro)
Russian: послу́шный (ru) (poslúšnyj)
Serbo-Croatian: podložan (sh), servilan (sh), poslušnički (sh)
Spanish: servil (es), apatronado, obsequioso
Swedish: inställsam (sv), underdånig (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Vietnamese: vâng lời (vi), dễ bảo (vi)

fawning, subservient

Armenian: քծնող (kʻcnoġ)
Bulgarian: сервилен (bg) (servilen), раболепен (bg) (rabolepen)
Catalan: obsequiós
Chinese:
Mandarin: 點頭哈腰的 / 点头哈腰的 (diǎntóuhāyāo de)，阿諛奉承的 / 阿谀奉承的 (ēyúfèngchéng de)
Czech: podlézavý
Danish: servil, slesk, krybende
Dutch: kruiperig (nl), slaafs (nl), onderworpen (nl)
Finnish: nöyristelevä, mielistelevä (fi), liehakoiva
French: obséquieux (fr), soumis (fr)
German: unterwürfig, hörig (de), servil (de), kriecherisch, devot (de)
Greek: γλύφτης m (glýftis)
Hindi: चापलूस (hi) m (cāplūs), ठकुरसुहात m (ṭhakursuhāt), ख़ुशामदी m (xuśāmdī)
Hungarian: alázatos (hu), szolgalelkű (hu)
Ido: komplezachema (io), respektemacha
Irish: spleách
Latin: obsequiōsus, vernīlis
Macedonian: у́годлив (úgodliv), рабо́лепен (rabólepen), по́низен (pónizen)
Māori: whakapatipati
Norwegian:
Bokmål: servil, slesk, sleskete
Plautdietsch: dommbleed
Polish: czołobitny (pl), służalczy (pl)
Portuguese: obsequioso (pt), submisso (pt)
Romanian: servil (ro), obsecvios (ro)
Russian: подобостра́стный (ru) (podobostrástnyj), раболе́пный (ru) (rabolépnyj)
Serbo-Croatian: servilan (sh), poslušnički (sh)
Spanish: sumiso (es), obsequioso
Swedish: underdånig (sv), krypande (sv)
Ukrainian: сервільний m (servilʹnyj), раболіпний m (rabolipnyj)
Vietnamese: khúm núm (vi), xun xoe (vi)

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “obsequious”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=obsequious&oldid=94591395"