observation
Pluralobservations (some meanings)
- 1The act of watching something or someone closely, or the condition of being watched.
Through careful observation, the naturalist learned the migration patterns of each flock.
Knowing they were under observation, the suspects behaved cautiously.
Similarsurveillance, scrutiny, monitoring
Note
The noun built straight from the verb: Middle English observacion, from Middle French, reinforced by Latin observātiō(n-), and formed as observe plus -ation. It covers both sides of looking, the watcher's act and the watched one's condition. Churchill's The Celebrity (1897) has a point of observation, meaning a vantage. Jeremy Bernstein (2012) writes of the observation of particles, where watching becomes detecting what theory had predicted.
- 2The act of noting and recording an event, or the record produced by doing so.
The astronomer logged each observation in a detailed notebook.
Their field observations spanned three breeding seasons.
- 3A remark or comment, typically one prompted by something the speaker has noticed.
He prefaced his observation with an apology for interrupting.
Her closing observation reframed the entire debate.
Note
The talkative sense, old enough for Shakespeare: "That's a foolish observation," in The Third Part of Henry the Sixth. A remark of this kind is something said aloud, which is what separates it from the conclusion drawn from watching, even when one sentence does both jobs. Pope's 1734 couplet plays on the link, warning that we grow partial to observations we make ourselves.
- 4A judgment or conclusion formed on the basis of what one has observed.
Her observation that the medication reduced symptoms guided further trials.
The report's central observation was that traffic eased after the new lights.
Similarfinding, conclusion
- 5An arrangement under which a person or thing is watched continuously or at regular intervals.
After surgery, she remained under observation in the recovery ward.
The suspect's apartment was placed under round-the-clock observation.
Similarsurveillance, monitoring
- 6A single recorded value of a random variable, as actually obtained in a trial or measurement.
Each observation in the dataset corresponds to one measured outcome.
The model was fit to several thousand observations.
Similarmeasurement
Note
Statisticians use the word for one realized value: the number a random variable actually produced on a given trial. The variable describes a distribution, and an observation is one draw from it. In this sense the noun is freely countable. A dataset holds observations, and a model is fit to thousands of them. It sits close to the recorded note, though here the record is a value, not a description.
- 7The carrying out of what is prescribed; faithful adherence to a rule, rite, or custom in practice.
Strict observation of the treaty's terms kept the peace for decades.
The community's observation of the holy days followed centuries-old practice.
Similarobservance, adherence, compliance
Note
Here observe means keep, not watch: this is the noun of observing a rule, a rite or a vow. Observance covers the same ground. Jeremy Taylor's The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living asks leave "to omit the observation of it," a duty kept rather than a thing seen. Its natural objects are rules, terms, customs and holy days.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of observation apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It came from Middle English observacion, borrowed from Middle French observacion, with later borrowing from French observation and from Latin observātiō(n-). It can also be analyzed as "observe" plus the suffix "-ation".