observer
Pluralobservers
- 1
- 2A person sent as a representative to a meeting or other event to monitor it but not to take part.
The union sent an observer to the contract talks.
As an observer, she could listen to the debate but not vote.
Similarmonitor
Oppositeparticipant
- 3A country or other body that holds limited participation rights within an organization.
The nation joined the regional council as an observer, without voting power.
Several observers attended the summit but could not vote on the resolutions.
Note
Here the role belongs to a state or body, not an individual. It most often appears in the phrase observer status, with the noun working like an adjective. The Vatican and Palestine hold observer status at the UN. Compare the delegate who watches a meeting. That observer is a person sent to one event. This one is a lasting standing within the organization, with limited rights to take part.
- 4A person who adheres to or follows laws, guidelines, customs, or the like.
She is a strict observer of the speed limit and never drives too fast.
As a devout observer of fasting customs, he eats nothing until sunset.
Note
In this sense, observe means "keep" rather than "watch." The noun is simply observe + -er, so it carries both meanings of the verb. An observer of the local customs follows them. An observer of customs in the watching sense may only be studying them. Both senses take of, so the context usually decides which one is meant. Strict and devout signal the keeping sense.
- 5A crew member aboard an aircraft tasked with watching for enemy positions or aircraft.
The observer in the rear seat radioed the enemy's location back to base.
Each bomber carried an observer to spot ground targets.
Similarspotter
Note
A crew title from military aviation, kept separate from the pilot's. One person flew the aircraft, and the observer watched for enemy positions and aircraft and passed on what was seen. The role was prominent in early military aviation. In accounts of air crews the word works as a job title, used with the definite article like the pilot or the navigator.
- 6A sentry or similar soldier stationed to staff an observation post and report what is seen.
The observer in the forward post reported movement along the ridge.
Two observers manned the post through the night.
Note
On the ground, the same title goes to whoever staffs an observation post. It is a sentry's job rather than a flyer's. Such observers watch a fixed sector, report enemy movement and often direct fire onto the targets they find. Their weakness is light: a move timed for dusk, when their vision is poorest, is hardest for them to catch. Unlike the airborne crew member, they stay in one place.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from the verb "observe" combined with the suffix "-er."