Explain the differences between worship and obeisance [closed]
In English is there a substantive difference between the words obeisance and worship?
In biblical Greek the word translated worship can mean adoration toward deity or respectful bowing toward another person like a curtsy or ceremonial bow.
Yet in English we rarely if ever would use worship in the context of genuflection toward a fellow human. Instead we might use the word obeisance.
Are the words worship and obeisance interchangeable in English? Explain why or why not.
Solution 1:
They are not interchangeable. Worship has been increasingly associated with the divine over the past few hundred years, whereas obeisance remains associated with people. The Oxford English Dictionary in "worship, n." lists the divine definition first, and then lists the one for people as rare:
- a. Reverence or veneration paid to a being or power regarded as supernatural or divine; the action or practice of displaying this by appropriate acts, rites, or ceremonies. [...]
- Respect or honour shown to a person or thing; the action or practice of displaying this. Now rare.
It is hard to say why that shift happened. Worship (originally from worth+ship) as a quality was often applied to knights and other high class figures as well as divine ones in Middle English and Early Modern English. It could be that the connection between worship and honor weakened as value systems like chivalry became more decorative than functional, which is why the term is kept in the more restrictive sense of a title (Your Worship) but does not remain in active use. (Most people don't have to genuflect to their lord.) It could also be that the Reformation in England brought a new interest in lexically distinguishing between the respect paid to any person (including a priest) and God. It could be entirely incidental - writers used worship more in reference to the divine and people believed that worship pertained to divinity.
Solution 2:
Taking the definitions of worship
to have or show a strong feeling of respect and admiration for God or a god:
and obeisance
the fact of obeying or respecting someone, or something you do that expresses this
from the Cambridge online dictionary it is clear that worship is to do with someone's personal relationship to a deity whereas obeisance is to do with their commitment to another person with higher status and more power.
Although 'Worship' is often expressed through 'acts of worship' such as kneeling, crossing oneself, touching one's forehead to the floor in prayer, bowing before images of the gods and so on these acts are considered to be the external manifestations of the internal drive. There are often social pressures to do this but the most important thing is considered to be the internal response.
'Obeisance' on the other hand can be demanded either by the powerful person or by social convention and is usually expressed in physical action. Although the definition says that the it is "the fact of obeying or respecting someone" there is no suggestion that a person giving obeisance to another considers them to be anything other than a person of higher status. Obeisance, therefore, is more concerned with observable actions or audible words than worship. It is quite possible to "give obeisance" (that is perform the outer show) to someone without necessarily respecting or supporting them. You can only appear to worship a given deity.
'Worship' is also used to describe the reaction to a romantically loved one (as in "she was besotted with him and worshipped the ground he walked on") but this is, again, a personal internal emotion and the beloved does not, usually, demand 'obeisance' from the lover (unless the relationship is abusive in some way).