observer French · revision 16597

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=la servō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''observer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|observō|t=to watch, pay attention to; to respect, comply with]], from [[m|la|ob-]] and [[m|la|servō|t=to keep, preserve, watch over]] (see [[conserver]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|7, 283b) In Church Latin “observare” was used especially of keeping religious duties.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[it|osservare]] and [[es|observar]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Léger'' (late 10th century) has ''Lei consentit et observat'', of keeping the Christian law.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old French used the verb only in this moral sense, “to comply with what a law prescribes”.^(DHLF 1992) The other senses developed in the 16th and 17th centuries: to make something one's rule (Montaigne, 1580), to watch closely (Hulsius, 1607), to observe scientifically (Furetière, 1690), to watch an enemy (1681) and to notice (Amyot, 1559); ''faire observer qqch. à qqn'' “to point something out to someone” is in Fénelon (1687).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Observer les distances'' was a military phrase (1868) that came to mean “to keep one's distance”.^(DHLF 1992) The learned derivatives [[observation]] (about 1200), [[observateur]] (1491) and [[observatoire]] (1667) followed.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 10th century – To keep (the law), ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – The noun ''observation''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1559 – To notice, Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – To make (something) one's rule, Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1607 – To watch attentively, Hulsius.^(TLFi)

+ * 1667 – ''Observatoire''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1690 – To observe scientifically, Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|observe]], watch, examine: ''observer les étoiles'', ''observer qqn à la dérobée''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To notice, note, ''faire observer qqch. à qqn'', to point something out.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # To keep, comply with: ''observer une règle'', ''observer une minute de silence''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''S'observer'': to watch oneself; to watch each other.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[observable]]

+ * [[observatoire]]

+ * [[inobservation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[observation]]

+ * [[observateur]]

+ * [[observance]]

+ * [[conserver]]

+ * [[la|observō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}