observer

From observe + -er.

• (US) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɝvɚ/, /ɑb-/

  • Audio (US):

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• (UK) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɜːvə/, /ɒb-/

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.

• air observer

• “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.

Borrowed from Latin observō.

• IPA^(key): /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/

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observer

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

• Haitian Creole: obsève

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

observer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of observō

observer

1. imperative of observere