observe

Formsobserves, observing, observed

Pluralobserves

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To notice or look at something carefully, with close attention to detail.

   Detectives observe a suspect's body language for signs of deception.

   The researchers observed subtle changes in the animals' behavior over several months.

   Similarwatch, notice, study, monitor

   Oppositeignore, overlook

   Note

   The watching half of a Latin verb that also meant keeping: observō, from ob- "before" and servō "to keep", ultimately from a root meaning "to guard". Observing is more deliberate than seeing. It is what one does to an eclipse or to animal behavior, and what Holmes asks of a witness in Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb (1892). In the passive, "can be observed in" introduces where a phenomenon shows itself.

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To make a remark or comment, often about something one has noticed.

   'This approach rarely works,' the consultant observed.

   Critics observe that the policy has done little to reduce costs.

   Similarremark, comment, note

   Note

   A reporting verb that frames a remark as the product of noticing. It takes a that-clause (the senator observed that the bill would hurt his constituents) or follows quoted speech as a tag, as in Robert W. Chambers's The Younger Set (1907): "I never understood it," she observed. With a that-clause it can blur into the noticing sense, and only context shows whether anything was said aloud.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To follow or obey a custom, practice, or set of rules, especially those of a religion.

   Devout members observe the Sabbath by refraining from work.

   The community observed the mourning customs for a full week.

   Similarkeep, follow, obey, respect

   Oppositebreak, violate, ignore

   Note

   Here the Latin servō, "to keep", sits closest to the surface: to observe a rule is to keep it, from the same root behind the watching sense. Speed limits, customs and religious law all take this verb, and so does a ritual act. Jeremy Wilson's 2011 match report has a crowd that "observed perfectly a period of silence." Adverbs of manner fit it naturally: observe strictly, observe faithfully.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To mark and celebrate a holiday or occasion, or to follow a particular system of time or calendar.

   Millions observe Ramadan with daily fasting from dawn to sunset.

   The region still observes standard time and never shifts its clocks.

   Similarcelebrate, mark, keep

   Note

   Where the rule-keeping meaning takes laws, this one takes dates: feasts, holy days, and even whole systems of clock time. The King James Bible of 1611 commands, "Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread". Jackie Dunham writes in 2020 that most of Canada will observe daylight time. To observe a time system is to live by it, not to watch it.

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