OBSERVATION • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Observation

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/ˌɑbzərvˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Observation n.

1.

The act or the faculty of observing or taking notice; the act of seeing, or of fixing the mind upon, anything. "My observation, which very seldom lies."

2.

The result of an act, or of acts, of observing; view; reflection; conclusion; judgment. "In matters of human prudence, we shall find the greatest advantage in making wise observations on our conduct."

3.

Hence: An expression of an opinion or judgment upon what one has observed; a remark. "That's a foolish observation." "To observations which ourselves we make We grow more partial for the observer's sake."

4.

Performance of what is prescribed; adherence in practice; observance. (Obs.) "We are to procure dispensation or leave to omit the observation of it in such circumstances."

5.

(Science)

(a)

The act of recognizing and noting some fact or occurrence in nature, as an aurora, a corona, or the structure of an animal.

(b)

Specifically, the act of measuring, with suitable instruments, some magnitude, as the time of an occultation, with a clock; the right ascension of a star, with a transit instrument and clock; the sun's altitude, or the distance of the moon from a star, with a sextant; the temperature, with a thermometer, etc.

(c)

The information so acquired; as, to record one's observations carefully. Note: When a phenomenon is scrutinized as it occurs in nature, the act is termed an observation. When the conditions under which the phenomenon occurs are artificial, or arranged beforehand by the observer, the process is called an experiment. Experiment includes observation.

To take an observation (Naut.), to ascertain the altitude of a heavenly body, with a view to fixing a vessel's position at sea.

Synonyms: Observance; notice; attention; remark; comment; note. See Observance.

See images of 'Observation'

Etymology of 'Observation'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Observation" Quotes from Famous Books

... nature consists of hermaphrodite vegetables and animals, as in those flowers which have anthers and stigmas in the same corol; and in many insects, as leeches, snails, and worms; and perhaps all those reptiles which have no bones, according to the observation of M. Poupart, who thinks, that the number of hermaphrodite animals exceeds that of those which are divided into sexes; Mem. de l'Acad. des Sciences. These hermaphrodite insects I suspect to be incapable of impregnating themselves ...

— The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society - A Poem, with Philosophical Notes • Erasmus Darwin

... a distance from moisture, in the latter case, as soon as the young are hatched, the old bird will sometimes carry them in her claws to the nearest spring or green strip. In the same manner, when in danger, she will rescue those which she can lift; of this we have frequent opportunities for observation in Tarnaway. Various times when the hounds, in beating the ground, have come upon a brood, we have seen the old bird rise with the young one in her claws and carry it fifty or a hundred ...

— Chatterbox Stories of Natural History • Anonymous

... the doctor's hall. It was not that she looked upon him as a possible lover—she had sense enough to know that almost any man might be that—he was a hypothetic lover, and in view of the assumption it behooved her to give careful observation to everything in him, herself, or others, which might bear upon ...

— The Girl at Cobhurst • Frank Richard Stockton

... of the spaces which are not and cannot be adequately cultivated, so that the ground around the trees is apt to become compacted either by the run of water or the lack of cultivation, or both. Our observation has been that Irish potatoes are no more injurious than other crops. Any crop will injure young trees if it takes moisture they ought to have or interferes with ...

— One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered • E.J. Wickson

... 3 per cent. of the actual height. At the same time the difficulty of identifying a particular spot on a low cloud is considerably increased. A wire is laid between the two ends of the base, and each observer is provided with two telephones—one for speaking, the other for listening. When an observation is to be taken, the conversation goes on somewhat as follows: First observer, who takes the lead—"Do you see a patch of cloud away down west?" "Yes." "Can you make out a well-marked point on the leading edge?" "Yes." "Well, then; now." At this signal both ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 611, September 17, 1887 • Various

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