Meaning

noun bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame or greeting

noun the act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person

originFrom Middle English obeisaunce (“obedience, obeisance”), from Old French obeïssance, derived from obeïssant (“obedient”), participle of obeïr (“to obey”), from Latin oboediō, obēdiō; ob- (“to, for”) + audiō (“to hear”). Cognate with obedience.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0