observe
Etymology
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Etymology
From Middle French observer, from Old French observer, from Latin observō, from ob- ("before") + servō ("to keep"), from Proto-Indo-European *ser-.
Pronunciation Verbobserve (observes, present participle observing; simple past and past participle observed)
- (transitive) To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.
- From this vantage point we can observe the behavior of the animals in their natural habitat.
- She got up before dawn to observe the lunar eclipse.
- 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb:
- “One horse?” interjected Holmes. ¶ “Yes, only one.” ¶ “Did you observe the colour?”
- (transitive) To follow or obey the custom, practice, or rules (especially of a religion).
- Please observe all posted speed limits.
- (transitive) To take note of and celebrate (a holiday or similar occurrence), to keep; to follow (a type of time or calendar reckoning).
- 2020 (March 7), Jackie Dunham, "Daylight time: How to get enough sleep when the clocks spring forward ↗, CTV News:
- On Sunday, most of Canada will observe daylight time and spring forward an hour in order to reflect the increasing sunlight.
- (intransitive) To comment on something; to make an observation.
- The senator observed that the bill would be detrimental to his constituents.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC ↗:
- Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
- (follow a custom) celebrate
- French: observer, remarquer
- German: beobachten
- Italian: osservare
- Portuguese: observar, ver, verificar, olhar, reparar
- Russian: наблюда́ть
- Spanish: observar
- French: respecter, observer, garder
- German: beachten, halten
- Italian: osservare
- Portuguese: seguir, acompanhar, ter em conta, cumprir, respeitar
- Russian: соблюда́ть
- Spanish: seguir, tomar en cuenta
observe (plural observes)
- (archaic) An observation remark, comment or judgement.
- 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC ↗:
- “It sticks in my mind that he would take it very ill,” says Alan. “But the little man cried to me to run, and indeed I thought it was a good observe, and ran. The last that I saw they were all in a knot upon the beach, like folk that were not agreeing very well together.”
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
