observer

From observe +‎ -er.

• (US) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɝvɚ/, /ɑb-/

  • audio (US)

    (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɜːvə/, /ɒb-/

observer (plural observers)

1. One who makes observations, monitors or takes notice

   Most impartial observers agreed that Sampras had not served well.

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.

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.

• air observer
• interobserver
• political observer

• beholder (sense 1 only)

• observer pattern

• observer in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• observer in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Borrowed from Latin observāre, present active infinitive of observo.

• IPA^(key): /ɔp.sɛʁ.ve/

• audio

  (file)

observer

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

• “observer” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

observer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of observō

observer

1. imperative of observere