Observation definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (35)

American Heritage Dictionary (6)

noun The act or faculty of observing.
noun The fact of being observed.
noun The act of noting and recording something, such as a phenomenon, with instruments.

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Century Dictionary (23)

The act or fact of observing, and noting or fixing in the mind; a seeing and noting; notice: as, a fact that does not come under one's observation. This Clermont is a meane and ignoble place, having no memorable thing therein worthy the observation. Coryat, Crudities, I. 23. Our Curiosity was again arrested by the observation of another Tower, which appear'd in a thicket not far from the way side. Maundrell, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 23. The North American Indian had no better eyes than the white man; but he had trained his powers of observation in a certain direction, till no sign of the woods escaped him. J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. 114.
The habit or power of observing and noting: as, a man of great observation. I told you Angling is an art, either by practice or along observation, or both. I. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 99. If my observation, which very seldom lies, By the heart's still rhetoric disclosed with eyes, Deceive me not now, Navarre is infected. Shak., L. L. L., ii. l. 228.
An act of scientific observing; an accurate remarking (often with measurement) of a fact directly presented to the senses, together with the conditions under which it is presented: as, a meridian observation, made by a navigator, in which he measures the sun's altitude when on the meridian for the purpose of calculating the latitude; the meteorological observations made by the Signal Service Bureau. In those sciences which describe and explain provinces of the universe as it exists, such as astronomy and systematic biology, observations are, for the most part, made under circumstances or conditions which may be selected, but cannot be produced at will. But in those sciences which analyze the behavior of substances under various conditions it is customary first to place the object to be examined under artificially produced conditions, and then to make an observation upon it. This whole performance, of which the observation is a part, is called an experiment. Formerly sciences were divided into sciences of experiment and sciences of observation, meaning observation without experiment. But now experiments are made in all sciences. It is only occasionally that the word observation has been used to imply the absence of experimentation. Confounding observation with experiment or invention — the act of a cave-man in betaking himself to a drifting tree with that of Noah in building himself an ark. J. Ward, Encyc. Brit., XX. 75.

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Full in the downpour, unmoving, he watched the town house and its partiers without coming closer or going away, as if this observation were all his intention in life. — FSF,January2008
Whether this observation was the cause or not, he did remain more or less on his best behavior, barring the time he turned the air in the bicycle tires of a boy who had stolen his superhero comic book to cement. — Fantasy and Science Fiction - [Vol 111] - Issue 04-05 - October-November 2006
The first war charity to come under my observation was the American Red Cross. — My Four Years in Germany
Another observation is the emergence and activities of antitrust related centers and institutes at law schools across the country. — TRUTH ON THE MARKET
The background to this observation is the idea that the core of capitalist production was cost minimization, which was accomplished by cutting back on labor costs, either through holding wages down or driving workers harder. — Economist's View

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study · knowledge · remark · reflection · statement · research · criticism · description · inquiry · discussion · view · consideration

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Century Dictionary (1)

from French observation = Spanish observacion = Portuguese observação = Italian osservazione, from Latin observatio(n-), a watching, noting, marking, regard, respect, from observare, watch, note, regard: see observe.

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