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 Words From

• 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

"This allowed us to make predictions about how particular components of the brain, such as specific connectivity patterns, contribute to observations about cortical processing made by our experimental colleagues," explains lead researcher Dr. James Isbister.

From Science Daily

The new observations reveal a star puffing out gas and dust, in the last stages before it becomes a supernova.

From Science Daily

Local insects and fruits were also collected, based on their proximity to the civets' habitats and observations of the civets' diet.

From Science Daily

Kroese explained, "We then compared the standing data gathered by the software against timestamps in the video annotated by three human observers, which is considered the gold standard for behavioral observations."

From Science Daily

It was here that much of the work to turn his and d’Hérelle’s observations into workable medicines took place.

From Salon

Related Words

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