OBSERVATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does observation mean? 

• OBSERVATION (noun)
  The noun OBSERVATION has 5 senses:

1. the act of making and recording a measurement

2. the act of observing; taking a patient look

3. a remark expressing careful consideration

4. facts learned by observing

5. the act of noticing or paying attention

  Familiarity information: OBSERVATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OBSERVATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of making and recording a measurement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

measure; measurement; measuring; mensuration (the act or process of assigning numbers to phenomena according to a rule)

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

radio observation (an observation made with a radio telescope)

Derivation:

observe (stick to correctly or closely)

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of observing; taking a patient look

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

observance; observation; watching

Hypernyms ("observation" 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 "observation"):

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

sighting (the act of observing)

stargazing (observation of the stars)

Derivation:

observe (observe with care or pay close attention to)

observe (watch attentively)

observe (follow with the eyes or the mind)

observe (stick to correctly or closely)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A remark expressing careful consideration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

observation; reflection; reflexion

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

comment; input; remark (a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information)

Instance hyponyms:

Parkinson's law (C. Northcote Parkinson's cynical observation that the number of subordinates in an organization will increase linearly regardless of the amount of work to be done)

Parkinson's law (C. Northcote Parkinson's cynical observation that work will expand so as to fill the time available for its completion)

Derivation:

observe (stick to correctly or closely)

observe (observe with care or pay close attention to)

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

observe (watch attentively)

observe (follow with the eyes or the mind)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Facts learned by observing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

he reported his observations to the mayor

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

fact (a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred)

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

scientific fact (an observation that has been confirmed repeatedly and is accepted as true (although its truth is never final))

Derivation:

observe (stick to correctly or closely)

observe (observe with care or pay close attention to)

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

observe (watch attentively)

observe (follow with the eyes or the mind)

Sense 5

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 ("observation" 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 "observation"):

mind (attention)

remark (explicit notice)

Derivation:

observe (follow with the eyes or the mind)

observe (watch attentively)

observe (observe with care or pay close attention to)

observe (make mention of)

observe (stick to correctly or closely)

 Context examples 

What his thoughts were on the subject, or what his observation was, I am as unable to explain, as I dare say he would have been to assist me in the task.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The use of statistical methods to analyze biological observations and phenomena.

(Biostatistics, NCI Thesaurus)

Events pertaining to observations about implantable cardiac leads.

(Cardiac Lead Event Finding, NCI Thesaurus)

“I rather wonder Julia is not in love with Henry,” was her observation to Mary.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It is beginning observations and sending science data back to Earth.

(Rosetta closing in on comet, NASA)

The new observations do not support this scenario, finding that dark matter is "colder" than it would have to be in the warm dark matter alternative theory.

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)

The judgment of relatedness between an adverse event and an activity or observation result.

(Causality, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

The process by which an observation value was obtained.

(Method, LOINC Axis 6, NCI Thesaurus)

I must not confuse them with experiences which will have to rest on my own observation, or my memory of them.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Terminology associated with the findings about the object of the observation codelist of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC SDTM Findings About Object Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)