observation English · revision 7531

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1382|origins=la observo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌɒbzəˈveɪʃn̩/ ''(UK)''; /ˌɑbzɚˈveɪʃn̩/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English observacioun, [[bor|fro|observation]] and directly Latin [[m|la|observatio|t=a watching over, observance]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from the past participle stem of [[m|la|observo|alt=observāre|t=to watch over, heed, comply with]] (see [[observe]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from ob-, before, and servāre, to watch, keep safe, from PIE [[ine-pro|*ser-|t=to protect]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The keeping of customs or laws, the performance of religious rites: before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The religious sense is now expressed by [[observance]].^(OED 1989) The act of seeing and noting is from 1557, in the Geneva Bible,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and paying attention from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The faculty or habit of noticing is from 1605.^(OED 1989) A remark about something observed is from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) Respectful attention (1644) and careful heed (1610) are obsolete senses.^(OED 1989) Noting and recording phenomena with instruments, and the result of this, are scientific senses.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1382 – keeping of rites.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1557 – seeing and noting.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – a remark.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1605 – the faculty of observing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or faculty of [[observe|alt=observing]], or the fact of being observed.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The noting and recording of facts, as with [[instrument|alt=instruments]], or the record so made.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[comment]] or remark.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[observational]]

+ * [[observationally]]

+ * [[preobservation]]

+ * [[nonobservation]]

+ * [[reobservation]]

+ * [[participant observation]]

+ * [[observation post]]

+ * [[observation car]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[observance]]

+ * [[observant]]

+ * [[observatory]]

+ * [[observe]]

+ * [[observer]]

+ * [[conserve]]

+ * [[preserve]]

+ * [[reserve]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}