observation

[ ob-zur-vey-shuhn ]

noun

1. an act or instance of noticing or perceiving.
2. an act or instance of regarding attentively or watching.
3. the faculty or habit of observing or noticing.

   Synonyms: attention

4. notice:

   to escape a person's observation.

5. an act or instance of viewing or noting a fact or occurrence for some scientific or other special purpose:

   the observation of blood pressure under stress.

6. the information or record secured by such an act.
7. something that is learned in the course of observing things:

   My observation is that such clouds mean a storm.

8. a remark, comment, or statement based on what one has noticed or observed.

   Synonyms: opinion, pronouncement

9. the condition of being observed.
10. Navigation.
    1. the measurement of the altitude or azimuth of a heavenly body for navigational purposes.
    2. the information obtained by such a measurement.
11. Obsolete. observance, as of the law.

observation

/ ˌɒbzəˈveɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of observing or the state of being observed
2. a comment or remark
3. detailed examination of phenomena prior to analysis, diagnosis, or interpretation

   the patient was under observation

4. the facts learned from observing
5. an obsolete word for observance
6. nautical
   1. a sight taken with an instrument to determine the position of an observer relative to that of a given heavenly body
   2. the data so taken

Derived Forms

• ˌobserˈvational, adjective
• ˌobserˈvationally, adverb

Other Word Forms

• nonob·ser·vation noun
• preob·ser·vation noun
• reob·ser·vation noun
• self-obser·vation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of observation¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin observātiōn-, stem of observātiō “attention, inspection, surveillance,” from observāt(us) “watched” (past participle of observāre “to watch, regard, attend to”; observe ) + -iō -ion

Synonym Study

See remark.

Example Sentences

In 2022, the institution said the lack of observations meant that "even to this day, the enormous invertebrates still straddle the line between legend and reality".

From BBC

Nineteen people survived the fire and were taken to hospital for observation, reports say.

From BBC

The data enabled us to produce a heatmap for every manager, which you can find below along with observations from each journalist.

From BBC

The Financial Times published a very sharp editorial that featured this observation that should send chills down the spines of Republicans who will be facing the voters next year:

From Salon

The observation eventually led to development of the world's first true antibiotic and has saved countless lives.

From BBC

Related Words

• conclusion
• consideration
• examination
• experience
• information
• inspection
• investigation
• knowledge
• measurement
• note
• perception
• remark
• research
• review
• study
• surveillance
• view