Obsecration
(Ob"se*cra"tion) n. [L. obsecratio: cf. F. obsecration.]
1. The act of obsecrating or imploring; as, the obsecrations of the Litany, being those clauses beginning
with "By." Bp. Stillingfeet. Shipley.
2. (Rhet.) A figure of speech in which the orator implores the assistance of God or man.
Obsecratory
(Ob"se*cra*to*ry) a. Expressing, or used in, entreaty; supplicatory. [R.] Bp. Hall.
Obsequent
(Ob"se*quent) a. [L. obsequens, p. pr. of obsequi; ob (see Ob- ) + sequi. See Sequence.]
Obedient; submissive; obsequious. [Obs.] Fotherby.
Obsequience
(Ob*se"qui*ence) n. Obsequiousness. [R.]
Obsequies
(Ob"se*quies) n. pl. See Obsequy.
Obsequious
(Ob*se"qui*ous) a. [L. obsequiosus, fr. obsequium compliance, fr. obsequi, fr. obsequi: cf.
F. obséquieux, See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequy.]
1. Promptly obedient, or submissive, to the will of another; compliant; yielding to the desires of another; devoted.
[Obs.]
His servants weeping,
Obsequious to his orders, bear him hither.
Addison. 2. Servilely or meanly attentive; compliant to excess; cringing; fawning; as, obsequious flatterer, parasite.
There lies ever in "obsequious" at the present the sense of an observance which is overdone, of an unmanly
readiness to fall in with the will of another.
Trench. 3. [See Obsequy.] Of or pertaining to obsequies; funereal. [R.] "To do obsequious sorrow." Shak.
Syn. — Compliant; obedient; servile. See Yielding.
Obsequiously
(Ob*se"qui*ous*ly), adv.
1. In an obsequious manner; compliantly; fawningly. Dryden.
2. In a manner appropriate to obsequies. [Obs.]
Whilst I a while obsequiously lament
The untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster.
Shak. Obsequiousness
(Ob*se"qui*ous*ness), n. The quality or state of being obsequious. South.
Obsequy
(Ob"se*quy) n.; pl. Obsequies [L. obsequiae, pl., funeral rites, fr. obsequi: cf.F. obsèques.
See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequious.]
1. The last duty or service to a person, rendered after his death; hence, a rite or ceremony pertaining to
burial; — now used only in the plural. Spencer.
I will . . . fetch him hence, and solemnly attend,
With silent obsequy and funeral train.
Milton
I will myself
Be the chief mourner at his obsequies.
Dryden.
The funeral obsequies were decently and privately performed by his family
J. P. Mahaffy. 2. Obsequiousness. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
