OBSERVANCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does observance mean? 

• OBSERVANCE (noun)
  The noun OBSERVANCE has 4 senses:

1. the act of observing; taking a patient look

2. a formal event performed on a special occasion

3. the act of noticing or paying attention

4. conformity with law or custom or practice etc.

  Familiarity information: OBSERVANCE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OBSERVANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of observing; taking a patient look

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

observance; observation; watching

Hypernyms ("observance" is a kind of...):

look; looking; looking at (the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "observance"):

sighting (the act of observing)

stargazing (observation of the stars)

monitoring (the act of observing something (and sometimes keeping a record of it))

Derivation:

observe (watch attentively)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A formal event performed on a special occasion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

ceremonial; ceremonial occasion; ceremony; observance

Context example:

a ceremony commemorating Pearl Harbor

Hypernyms ("observance" is a kind of...):

affair; function; occasion; social function; social occasion (a vaguely specified social event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "observance"):

potlatch (a ceremonial feast held by some Indians of the northwestern coast of North America (as in celebrating a marriage or a new accession) in which the host gives gifts to tribesmen and others to display his superior wealth (sometimes, formerly, to his own impoverishment))

Maundy (a public ceremony on Maundy Thursday when the monarch distributes Maundy money)

formalities; formality (a requirement of etiquette or custom)

fire walking (the ceremony of walking barefoot over hot stones or a bed of embers)

exercise ((usually plural) a ceremony that involves processions and speeches)

induction; initiation; installation (a formal entry into an organization or position or office)

military ceremony (a formal ceremony performed by military personnel)

commemoration; memorialisation; memorialization (a ceremony to honor the memory of someone or something)

opening (a ceremony accompanying the start of some enterprise)

dedication (a ceremony in which something (as a building) is dedicated to some goal or purpose)

pageant; pageantry (a rich and spectacular ceremony)

hymeneals; nuptials; wedding; wedding ceremony (the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed)

funeral; obsequy (a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated)

circumstance (formal ceremony about important occasions)

Derivation:

observe (behave as expected during of holidays or rites)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of noticing or paying attention

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

notice; observance; observation

Context example:

he escaped the notice of the police

Hypernyms ("observance" is a kind of...):

attending; attention (the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "observance"):

mind (attention)

remark (explicit notice)

Derivation:

observant (paying close attention especially to details)

observe (discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Conformity with law or custom or practice etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

honoring; observance

Hypernyms ("observance" is a kind of...):

abidance; compliance; conformation; conformity (acting according to certain accepted standards)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "observance"):

punctilio (strict observance of formalities)

Antonym:

nonobservance (a lack of conformity with law or custom or practice etc.)

Derivation:

observant ((of individuals) adhering strictly to laws and rules and customs)

observe (conform one's action or practice to)

 Context examples 

In that house Elizabeth must be first; and she was in the habit of such general observance as "Miss Elliot," that any particularity of attention seemed almost impossible.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I leave the strict observance of my conditions entirely to your honor.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To my surprise it was nothing of any importance at all, but simply a copy of the questions and answers in the singular old observance called the Musgrave Ritual.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A smile flickered over the dark face of the servant, but his features reset themselves instantly into their usual mask of respectful observance.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No smile, no continued observance attended it; his eyes were immediately returned to their former direction.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The Churchills might not have a word to say in return; but then, you would have no habits of early obedience and long observance to break through.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

If, as I am willing to suppose, you wish to shew me any observance, you will not give way to these emotions, but endeavour to reason yourself into a stronger frame of mind.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Having resolved to do it without loss of time, as his leave of absence extended only to the following Saturday, and having no feelings of diffidence to make it distressing to himself even at the moment, he set about it in a very orderly manner, with all the observances, which he supposed a regular part of the business.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

She had never received from her more than outward attention, nothing beyond the observances of complaisance; had never succeeded in any point which she wanted to carry, against previous inclination.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Holmes had shaken off his temporary ill-humour, and his characteristic talk, with its keen observance of detail and subtle power of inference held me amused and enthralled.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)