observe

Syllables: ob·serveUK/əbˈzɜːv//əbˈzɝv/

observe verb: to notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.

Verb

observe (third-person singular simple present observes, present participle observing, simple past and past participle observed)

(transitive) To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.
- From this vantage point we can observe the behavior of the animals in their natural habitat.
- She got up before dawn to observe the lunar eclipse.
(transitive) To follow or obey the custom, practice, or rules (especially of a religion).
- Please observe all posted speed limits.
- Some of them have, in fact, given them a theoretical elaboration which for subtlety, refinement, and elegance need make no apologies to the older economics, and which remains faithful to older theorizing in at least one respect, that the tradition of unintelligibility to the layman is scrupulously...1958, Jacob Viner, The Long View and the Short, page 112
Synonyms:

celebrate
(transitive) To take note of and celebrate (a holiday or similar occurrence), to keep; to follow (a type of time or calendar reckoning).
- Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 12:17
- On Sunday, most of Canada will observe daylight time and spring forward an hour in order to reflect the increasing sunlight.2020 (March 7), Jackie Dunham, "Daylight time: How to get enough sleep when the clocks spring forward, CTV News
(intransitive) To comment on something; to make an observation.
- The senator observed that the bill would be detrimental to his constituents.
- Again, I farther obſerve, that as man is a compound being, ſo this renders him capable of ſeveral diſtinct kinds of pleaſure [...]1754, Thomas Chubb, A Collection of Tracts on Various Subjects, volume 2, page 43

Noun

observe (plural observes)

(archaic) An observation (remark, comment or judgement).
- “It sticks in my mind that he would take it very ill,” says Alan. “But the little man cried to me to run, and indeed I thought it was a good observe, and ran. The last that I saw they were all in a knot upon the beach, like folk that were not agreeing very well together.”1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC

observe meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

observe in Hindi

to notice, to watch — see also notice: देखना dekhnā

observe in Tamil

உற்றுநோக்கு, நோக்கு, அவதானி, கண்காணி, கடைபிடி, ஆராய்தல்

observe in Marathi

to observe, follow: संभाळणे sambhāḷṇe

observe in Urdu

to observe: دھیان دینا dhyān denā

More languagesFewer languages

observe in Bengali: মান্য করা, পালন করা, নিরীক্ষণ করা, মানা
observe in Telugu: పరిశీలించు pariśīliñcu
observe in Malayalam: നിരീക്ഷിക്കുക nirīkṣikkuka
observe in Kannada: ಉಂಕಿಸು, ಆರಯ್ಯು, ಗಮನಿಸು, ಗವಿಸು
observe in Gujarati: અવલોકન કરો
observe in Sanskrit: पश्यति paśyati
observe in Nepali: घोरिनु ghorinu, मान्नु mānnu
observe in Pashto: څارون śārōn
observe in Arabic: لَاحَظَ lāḥaẓa, رَاقَبَ rāqaba
observe in Malay: tinjau, perhati
observe in Persian: مشاهده کردن mošâhade kardan, نپاهیدن nepâhidan, پاسیدن pāsidan
observe in Thai: สังเกต sǎng-gèet, ตั้งข้อสังเกต
observe in Vietnamese: quan sát

Examples of observe in a sentence

“One horse?” interjected Holmes. ¶ “Yes, only one.” ¶ “Did you observe the colour?”1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb:
The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.2013 March, Frank Fish, George Lauder, “Not Just Going with the Flow”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 114:
A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match.2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph:
Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with observe

Synonyms of observe

celebrate

Forms of observe

Verb
third-person singular present	observes
present participle	observing
past participle	observed
past	observed
second-person singular present (archaic)	observest
second-person singular past (archaic)	observedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	observeth
Noun
plural	observes

Past tense of observe: observed

Origin of observe

From Middle French observer, from Old French observer, from Latin observō (“to watch”), from ob- (“before”) + servō (“to keep”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to guard”). Cognate with Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐍂𐍅𐌰 (sarwa, “weapons, armour”), Old English searu (“device”).

Words formed from observe

Words that rhyme with observe

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about observe

What does observe mean?: Observe means to notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.
What is observe in Hindi?: Observe in Hindi is देखना (dekhnā). See Observe meaning in Hindi.
How do you use observe in a sentence?: “One horse?” interjected Holmes. ¶ “Yes, only one.” ¶ “Did you observe the colour?”
What part of speech is observe?: Observe can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce observe?: Observe is pronounced /əbˈzɜːv/ (UK).
What is the past tense of observe?: The past tense of observe is observed.

Words near observe in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-observe.ogg.

Cite this entry: “observe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/observe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.