Observe

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əbˈzɜːv/

Definitions

1. To watch or notice something carefully, or to follow a rule, custom, or celebration
2. To closely watch or perceive an event or object, as well as to comply with established practices or principles
3. To pay attention to what happens in order to gain insight, along with adhering to certain guidelines or traditions

Etymology: The Latin "observare" was built from "ob-", meaning "before" or "toward", and "servare", meaning "to keep" or "to guard." Put together, the idea is of keeping something in view, guarding it with your eyes. That sense of watchful protection survives in the English verb, which now means to watch carefully, but the underlying picture is one of holding something in sight. The root behind "servare" reaches back to Proto-Indo-European "*ser-", meaning "to guard." That same ancient root gave Gothic "sarwa", meaning "weapons" or "armour," and Old English "searu", meaning "device" or "contrivance." The shared ancestry is striking: a word for guarding yourself with armour and a word for watching something closely both descend from the same notion of protective vigilance. The English verb came through Middle French "observer," which in turn had passed through Old French. Its sense of attentive watching, rather than protecting, is what English kept, and it is the meaning that has come down to the present day.

Synonyms: watch, notice, see, perceive, monitor

Antonyms: ignore, overlook, disregard, neglect, miss