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Webster 1913 Edition

Observation

Obˊser-va′tion

Noun.

[L.

observatio

: cf. F.

observation

The act or the faculty of observing or taking notice; the act of seeing, or of fixing the mind upon, anything.

observation

, which very seldom lies.

Shakespeare

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.

I. Watts.

Hence:

An expression of an opinion or judgment upon what one has observed; a remark.

“That’s a foolish observation.”

Shak.

observations

which ourselves we make
We grow more partial for the observer's sake.

Pope.

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.

Jer. Taylor.

(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

☞ 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.

Syn. – Observance; notice; attention; remark; comment; note. See

Observance

Webster 1828 Edition

Observation

OBSERVA'TION

Noun.

s as z. [L. observatio. See Observe.]

The act of observing or taking notice; the act of seeing or of fixing the mind on any thing. We apply the word to simple vision, as when one says, a spot on the sun's disk did not fall under his observation; or to the notice or cognizance of the mind, as when one says, the distinction made by the orator escaped his observation. When however it expresses vision, it often represents a more fixed or particular view than a mere transient sight; as an astronomical observation.

Notion gained by observing; the effect or result of seeing or taking cognizance in the mind, and either retained in the mind or expressed in words; inference or something arising out of the act of seeing or noticing, or that which is produced by thinking and reflecting on a subject; note; remark; animadversion. We often say, I made the observation in my own mind; but properly an observation is that which is expressed as the result of viewing or of thinking.

In matters of human prudence, we shall find the greatest advantage by making wise observations on our conduct.

Observance; adherence to in practice; performance of what is prescribed.

He freed the christian church from the external observation and obedience of legal precepts not formally moral.

In navigation, the taking of the altitude of the sun or a star in order to find the latitude.

Definition 2024

observation

English

Noun

observation ‎(plural observations)

The act of observing, and the fact of being observed.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
  But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, […] . We began to tell her about Mohair and the cotillon, and of our point of observation from the Florentine galleried porch, and she insisted she would join us there.
- 2012 March-April, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146:
  The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.
The act of noting and recording some event; or the record of such noting.
A remark or comment.
- Shakespeare
  That's a foolish observation.
- Alexander Pope
  To observations which ourselves we make / We grow more partial for the observer's sake.
A judgement based on observing.
Performance of what is prescribed; adherence in practice; observance.
- Jeremy Taylor
  We are to procure dispensation or leave to omit the observation of it in such circumstances.