observar

Forms

observar (first-person singular present observo, first-person singular preterite observé, past participle observado)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin observō (“to watch; to heed, comply with”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed ob- and servō (“to watch, keep safe”).^[1][5][6] Corominas groups it with conservar, preservar and reservar, other learned words of the same Latin root.^[2][3]

The neighbouring languages took the same Latin verb: Portuguese observar, Catalan observar, French observer and Italian osservare.^[1] French has it from about 980, at first only in the moral sense “to comply with”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to the mid-16th century, with Gutierre de Cetina (died 1557) and Ribadeneira.^[2][3] The CDH has it much earlier in notarial documents of Aragon, first in a charter of San Juan de la Peña of 1296 that binds the tenants de tenir e de observar totas las ditas cosas “to keep and observe all the said things”; the DEMel cites a document of Upper Aragon of 1264.^[8][9] Earlier hits in the CDH, from 1223, are Latin charters.^[8] In all these texts the sense is “to comply with” an agreement or a law.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The Latin verb meant both “to watch closely” and “to comply with”, and Spanish took over both senses.^[3] Nebrija's Latin dictionary (1492) glosses Latin observo as acatar and guardar “to respect, keep”.^[10] The Diccionario de Autoridades puts the sense “to watch attentively and reflect on” first, then “to keep and fulfil exactly what is ordered”, and adds the astronomical sense of following the movements of the stars with instruments.^[11] Terreros added the sense “to notice, perceive”.^[12] The DLE keeps these four senses, the last being “to watch discreetly, spy on”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1264 – a document of Upper Aragon has observar.^[9]
• 1296 – a charter of San Juan de la Peña uses it of complying with an agreement.^[8]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin observo with acatar and guardar.^[10]
• before 1557 – Gutierre de Cetina, the first Castilian record in the DCECH.^[2]
• 1605 – observación is first recorded, in the Quijote.^[2][3]
• 1884 – the Academy gives its etymology and the example of observing the symptoms of a disease.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To observe, examine carefully: Los alumnos observaron las células al microscopio.^[4][1][14]
2. (transitive) To keep, obey or comply with exactly what is ordered: observar las normas.^[4][1][14]
3. (transitive) To notice, remark.^[4][14]
4. (transitive) To watch closely and discreetly, to spy on.^[4]
5. (astronomy) To watch the stars, with or without instruments.^[11][13]

Word family

• observación
• observador
• observancia
• observante
• observatorio
• observable

Related words

• observacional
• conservar
• preservar
• reservar
• Latin observō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 177
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. conservar
4. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. observar
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. observar
6. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. observar
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. observer
8. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. observar
9. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. observar
10. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. observar
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 11
12. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 689
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 752
14. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. observar