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observation

Etymology and origin of the English word observation

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1382
Borrowed from
Old French observation
Ultimate origin
Latin (observo)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌɒbzəˈveɪʃn̩/ (UK); /ˌɑbzɚˈveɪʃn̩/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English observacioun, borrowed from Old French observation and directly Latin observatio (“a watching over, observance”),[2][3] from the past participle stem of observāre (“to watch over, heed, comply with”) (see observe),[2][3] from ob-, before, and servāre, to watch, keep safe, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to protect”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The keeping of customs or laws, the performance of religious rites: before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense is now expressed by observance.[4] The act of seeing and noting is from 1557, in the Geneva Bible,[2][4] and paying attention from the 1550s.[3] The faculty or habit of noticing is from 1605.[4] A remark about something observed is from the 1590s.[3] Respectful attention (1644) and careful heed (1610) are obsolete senses.[4] Noting and recording phenomena with instruments, and the result of this, are scientific senses.[5][6]

Timeline

  • before 1382 – keeping of rites.[2]
  • 1557 – seeing and noting.[2]
  • 1590s – a remark.[3]
  • 1605 – the faculty of observing.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or faculty of observing, or the fact of being observed.
  2. The noting and recording of facts, as with instruments, or the record so made.
  3. A comment or remark.

Word family

  • observational
  • observationally
  • preobservation
  • nonobservation
  • reobservation
  • participant observation
  • observation post
  • observation car

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Observation.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/observation. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·