Word of the Week (WOW)

Word of the Week (WOW) is a weekly challenge created by Heena Rathore P. It’s a fun way to improve vocabulary by learning new words every week.

To participate, simply do a post with your word and leave the link as a comment on Heena’s WOW post for this week (above link). It’s a nice post to do and will give you some practise with a dictionary, of which there are several online. Illustrations are by no means necessary, but it’s up to you.

I’m up to the letter O this week. I started off by just choosing a word at random (perspicacious). Since then, I’ve been working through the alphabet, so I’ll be looking for a word beginning with the letter P next week.

So, here is my WOW for this week:

Word: Obeisance

Pronunciation: o·bei·sance [oh-bey-suh ns] [ə(ʊ)ˈbeɪs(ə)ns]

Audio: Obeisance

Part of Speech: Noun

Plural noun: obeisances

Adjective: obeisant

Adverb: obeisantly

Meaning:

1. a movement of the body expressing deep respect or deferential courtesy, as before a superior; a bow, curtsy, or other similar gesture.

2. deference, homage or respect for someone or something

382px-A_devotee_at_Gurudwara_Harmandir_Sahib,_Punjab — A devotee at Gurdwara Harmandir Sahib, Punjab, india. Athor: Koshy Koshy, from New Delhi, Indi Wikimedia Commons

Synonyms:

homage, respect, tribute, loyalty, devotion, fidelity, reverence, deference, faithfulness, fealty, allegiance, bow, salaam, salutation, kowtow, genuflection, bob, bending of the knee, curtsy or curtsey, veneration, submission

Antonyms:

censure, condemnation, disdain, scorn, dishonour, disloyalty, disregard, disrespect, treachery, bad manners, disobedience

Word Origin

1325-75; Middle English obeisaunce < Middle French obeissance, derivative of Old French obeissant, present participle of obeir to obey.

Use in a Sentence:

1. Sir Walter Raleigh displayed obeisance to Queen Elizabeth I by throwing his cloak over a puddle along her route.