observer

See also: observér

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English observe

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzijos

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English observer

From observe + -er.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɝvɚ/, /ɑb-/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɜːvə/, /ɒb-/

Noun

observer (plural observers)

1. One who makes observations, monitors or takes notice.

   Synonyms: beholder, (obsolete) observator

   Antonym: observee

   Most impartial observers agreed that Sampras had not served well.

   • 1958 November, “Storm Damage in the Home Counties”, in Railway Magazine, page 746:

     Between 8 and 9 p.m., the recorder at a meteorological station at Harrow, Middlesex, picked up 1,470 lightning flashes within a radius of 10 to 15 miles, and observers at the station described the storm as "probably one of the most spectacular of the century."

2. One who adheres or follows laws, guidelines, etc.

   I shall be an observer of the local customs.

3. A person sent as a representative, to a meeting or other function to monitor but not to participate.

   The UN sent many observers to the country's first elections.

   • 1985, Ching Hua Lee, “Becoming Mao's Man (1931-1935)”, in Deng Xiaoping: The Marxist Road to the Forbidden City‎^[1], Princeton, N.J.: The Kingston Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 68:

     When the army reached Tsun-i, an enlarged Politburo meeting was called. Teng attended as an observer.

4. A country or other entity which has limited participation rights within an organization.

   The Vatican and Palestine have observer status at the UN.

5. (military) A crew member on an aircraft who makes observations of enemy positions or aircraft.

   The only crew-member to survive the crash was the Canadian observer.

6. (military) A sentry etc. manning an observation post.

   We waited till dusk when the observers' vision was poorest.

7. (motor racing) Synonym of spotter.

Hyponyms

• air observer

Derived terms

• electoral observer
• interobserver
• intraobserver
• nonobserver
• observeress
• observerless
• observer pattern
• observership
• participant observer
• Sabbath observer

Related terms

• observable
• observably
• observance
• observant
• observation
• observational
• observatory
• observe

Translations

one who makes observations, monitors or takes notice

• Altai:

  Southern Altai: шиҥдеечи (šiŋdeeči)

• Azerbaijani: müşahidəçi
• Bulgarian: наблюдател (bg) m (nabljudatel)
• Catalan: observador m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 觀察者 / 观察者 (zh) (guāncházhě)

• Czech: pozorovatel (cs) m
• Danish: observatør c, iagttager c, betragter c
• Dutch: observator (nl) m, waarnemer (nl) m
• Finnish: tarkkailija (fi), havainnoija (fi)
• French: observateur (fr) m
• Galician: observador (gl) m
• German: Beobachter (de) m, Beobachterin (de) f
• Greek: παρατηρητής (el) m (paratiritís), παρατηρήτρια (el) f (paratirítria)

  Ancient Greek: παρατηρητής m (paratērētḗs)

• Hindi: पर्यवेक्षक m (paryavekṣak), अवेक्षक (hi) m (avekṣak), प्रेक्षित (hi) m (prekṣit)
• Hungarian: megfigyelő (hu), szemlélő (hu), észlelő (hu), észrevevő (hu)
• Italian: osservatore (it)
• Japanese: 観測者 (ja) (かんそくしゃ, kansokusha)
• Latin: observātor m, contemplātor (la) m
• Latvian: apskatnieks (lv) m
• Lithuanian: stebėtojas m
• Malay: pemerhati
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: observatør m, betrakter (no) m, iakttager m

  Nynorsk: observatør m

• Occitan: observaire (oc) m or f
• Persian: ناظر (fa) (nâzer)
• Polish: obserwator (pl) m, obserwatorka (pl) f
• Portuguese: observador (pt) m
• Russian: наблюда́тель (ru) m (nabljudátelʹ), наблюда́тельница (ru) f (nabljudátelʹnica)
• Slovene: opazovalec m, opazovalka f
• Spanish: observador (es) m
• Swedish: iakttagare (sv) c, betraktare (sv) c
• Telugu: ప్రేక్షకుడు (te) (prēkṣakuḍu)
• Turkish: gözlemci (tr)
• Ukrainian: спостеріга́ч m (sposteriháč), спостеріга́чка f (sposteriháčka)
• Yiddish: אָבסערוואַטאָר m (observator)

one who adheres or follows laws, guidelines, etc.

• Catalan: observador m
• Dutch: nalever (nl) m
• Finnish: noudattaja
• Hungarian: követő (hu)

person sent to monitor but not to participate

• Catalan: observador m
• Dutch: waarnemer (nl) m
• Finnish: tarkkailija (fi)
• Greek: παρατηρητής (el) m (paratiritís), παρατηρήτρια (el) f (paratirítria)
• Hungarian: megfigyelő (hu)
• Persian: ناظر (fa) (nâzer)
• Polish: obserwator (pl) m, obserwatorka (pl) f
• Slovene: opazovalec m, opazovalka f
• Swedish: observatör (sv) c

entity with limited participation rights

• Catalan: observador
• Finnish: tarkkailija (fi)
• Hungarian: megfigyelő (hu)

aircraft crew member

• Catalan: observador
• Dutch: observator (nl) m
• Finnish: tähystäjä (fi)

one manning an observation post

• Catalan: observador
• Dutch: observator (nl) m
• Finnish: tähystäjä (fi)
• Polish: obserwator (pl) m, obserwatorka (pl) f
• Slovene: opazovalec m, opazovalka f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} observateur (fr) m
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 傍観者 (ja) (ぼうかんしゃ, bōkansha), ^{(please verify)} オブザーバー (ja) (obuzābā)

Further reading

• “observer”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “observer”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin observō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Massy)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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Verb

observer

1. to observe, watch
2. to note, notice
3. to keep, maintain

Conjugation

Conjugation of observer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	observer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	observant /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		observé /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	observe /ɔp.sɛʁv/	observes /ɔp.sɛʁv/	observe /ɔp.sɛʁv/	observons /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	observez /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/	observent /ɔp.sɛʁv/
	imperfect	observais /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɛ/	observais /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɛ/	observait /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɛ/	observions /ɔp.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	observiez /ɔp.sɛʁ.vje/	observaient /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɛ/
	past historic2	observai /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/	observas /ɔp.sɛʁ.va/	observa /ɔp.sɛʁ.va/	observâmes /ɔp.sɛʁ.vam/	observâtes /ɔp.sɛʁ.vat/	observèrent /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɛʁ/
	future	observerai /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁe/	observeras /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁa/	observera /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁa/	observerons /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁɔ̃/	observerez /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁe/	observeront /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	observerais /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁɛ/	observerais /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁɛ/	observerait /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁɛ/	observerions /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁjɔ̃/	observeriez /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁje/	observeraient /ɔp.sɛʁ.və.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	observe /ɔp.sɛʁv/	observes /ɔp.sɛʁv/	observe /ɔp.sɛʁv/	observions /ɔp.sɛʁ.vjɔ̃/	observiez /ɔp.sɛʁ.vje/	observent /ɔp.sɛʁv/
	imperfect2	observasse /ɔp.sɛʁ.vas/	observasses /ɔp.sɛʁ.vas/	observât /ɔp.sɛʁ.va/	observassions /ɔp.sɛʁ.va.sjɔ̃/	observassiez /ɔp.sɛʁ.va.sje/	observassent /ɔp.sɛʁ.vas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	observe /ɔp.sɛʁv/	—	observons /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɔ̃/	observez /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• observable
• observateur m
• observation

Related terms

• observance f
• observantin m
• observatoire m

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: obsève

Further reading

• “observer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Verb

observer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of observō

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

observer

1. imperative of observere