Obtemper

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To comply with orders, rules, or requests given by someone in authority
2. To willingly submit to commands or directions from a higher power or regulation
3. To follow or conform to instructions or demands without resistance

Etymology: "Obtemper" is a back-formation from "obtemperate," so the verb is the shorter, older-looking form of an adjective that was itself built from Latin. The base is Latin "obtemperare," made of "ob-" (toward, in the sense of "in the face of") and "temperare" (to moderate, regulate, or govern), a root that also gave English "temper." The original sense was roughly to adjust oneself to a command, which is why the verb now means to comply with orders. The shortened form appears because English speakers treated the adjective "obtemperate" as if it ended in a suffix and trimmed it off to make a verb. Back-formations like this are common in English, and this one has stayed mostly in legal and formal writing, where a precise word for obedience to an order is useful.

Synonyms: comply, submit, obey, conform, follow

Antonyms: disobey, defy, resist, reject, contradict