Webster's 1913 (original) (raw)

Ob*serve", v. i. 1. To take notice; to give attention to what one sees or hears; to attend.

2. To make a remark; to comment; -- generally with on or upon.

I have barely quoted . . . without _observing_upon it.

Pope.

Syn. -- To remark. See Remark.

Ob*serve" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Observed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Observing.] [L. observare, observatum; ob(see Ob-) + servare to save, preserve, keep, heed, observe: cf.F. observer. See Serve.] 1. To take notice of by appropriate conduct; to conform one's action or practice to; to keep; to heed; to obey; to comply with; as, to observe rules or commands; to _observe_civility.

Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread.

Ex. xii. 17.

He wolde no such cursedness_observe_.

Chaucer.

Must I budge? Must I observe you?

Shak.

With solemn purpose to observe
Immutably his sovereign will.

Milton.

2. To be on the watch respecting; to pay attention to; to notice with care; to see; to perceive; to discover; as, to observe an eclipse; to observe the color or fashion of a dress; to observe the movements of an army.

3. To express as what has been noticed; to utter as a remark; to say in a casual or incidental way; to remark.