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Obey vs Subscribe - What's the difference?

obey | subscribe |

In lang=en terms the difference between obey and subscribe

is that obey is to do as one is told while subscribe is to sign; to mark with one's signature as a token of consent or attestation.

As verbs the difference between obey and subscribe

is that obey is to do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of while subscribe is (ergative) to sign up to have copies of a publication, such as a newspaper or a magazine, delivered for a period of time.

obey

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of.
  • To do as one is told.
  • (obsolete) To be obedient, compliant (to a given law, restriction etc.).
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.iv:
  • They were all taught by Triton, to obay / To the long raynes, at her commaundement [...].

    Antonyms

    * disobey * defy * rebel * resist * violate (especially rules )

    subscribe

    English

    Verb

    (subscrib)
  • (ergative) To sign up to have copies of a publication, such as a newspaper or a magazine, delivered for a period of time.
  • Would you like to subscribe''' or '''subscribe a friend to our new magazine, Lexicography Illustrated?
  • To pay for the provision of a service, such as Internet access or a cell phone plan.
  • To believe or agree with a theory or an idea.
  • I don’t subscribe to that theory.
  • To pay money to be a member of an organization.
  • To contribute or promise to contribute money to a common fund.
  • 1913:' Theodore Roosevelt, ''Autobiography'' — under no circumstances could I ever again be nominated for any public office, as no corporation would '''subscribe''' to a campaign fund if I was on the ticket, and that they would ' subscribe most heavily to beat me;
  • To promise to give, by writing one's name with the amount.
  • Each man subscribed ten dollars.
  • (business, and, finance) To agree to buy shares in a company.
  • 1776:' Adam Smith, ''The Wealth of Nations'' — The capital which had been ' subscribed to this bank, at two different subscriptions, amounted to one hundred and sixty thousand pounds, of which eighty per cent only was paid up.
  • To sign; to mark with one's signature as a token of consent or attestation.
  • Parties subscribe''' a covenant or contract; a man '''subscribes a bond.
    Officers subscribe''' their official acts, and secretaries and clerks '''subscribe copies or records.
  • * Milman
  • All the bishops subscribed the sentence.
  • (archaic) To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
  • * Sir Thomas More
  • [They] subscribed their names under them.
  • (obsolete) To sign away; to yield; to surrender.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • (obsolete) To yield; to admit to being inferior or in the wrong.
  • (obsolete) To declare over one's signature; to publish.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I will subscribe him a coward.

    Derived terms

    * subscribable * subscriber * subscript * subscription