observant

See also: Observant

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

French observantbor.

English observant

Borrowed from French observant.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɝvənt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əbˈzɜːvənt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: ob‧ser‧vant

Adjective

observant (comparative more observant, superlative most observant)

1. Alert and paying close attention; watchful.

   The observant police officer noticed that my tax disk was out-of-date.

2. Diligently attentive in observing a law, custom, duty or principle; regardful; mindful.

   I was normally observant of the local parking restrictions.

   • 1644, Kenelme [i.e., Kenelm] Digby, Two Treatises. In the One of which, the Nature of Bodies; in the Other, the Nature of Mans Soule; is Looked into: In Way of Discovery, of the Immortality of Reasonable Soules, Paris: […] Gilles Blaizot, →OCLC:

     We are told how observant Alexander was of his master Aristotle.

   • 1909, John Claude White, Sikhim and Bhutan, page 13:

     They also profess Buddhism, but are not so observant of its customs, nor are there so many monasteries and Lamas to be met with as in the other part of Bhutan.

3. Practicing a religion.

   Synonyms: pious, practicing, religionary; see also Thesaurus:devout

   She is an observant Catholic who goes to church regularly.

Antonyms

• inobservant
• nonobservant
• unobservant
• unobserving

Derived terms

• hyperobservant
• nonobservant
• unobservant

Related terms

• inobservant

Translations

alert and paying close attention

• Bulgarian: наблюдателен (bg) (nabljudatelen), бдителен (bg) (bditelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 密切注意的

• Czech: všímavý
• Finnish: tarkkaavainen (fi)
• French: observateur (fr), perspicace (fr)
• German: aufmerksam (de)
• Greek: παρατηρητικός (el) (paratiritikós)
• Hebrew: חַד עַיִן m (ẖad-'ayín)
• Hungarian: jó megfigyelő, éles szemű, figyelmes (hu), odafigyelő, szemfüles (hu)
• Ingrian: vilkas
• Irish: súilaibí
• Lithuanian: pastabus
• Plautdietsch: schneiw
• Polish: uważny (pl), spostrzegawczy (pl)
• Romanian: observator (ro)
• Russian: наблюдательный (ru) (nabljudatelʹnyj)
• Ukrainian: спостере́жливий (sposteréžlyvyj)

diligently attentive in observing a law, custom, duty or principle

• Bulgarian: спазващ (bg) (spazvašt), съблюдаващ (bg) (sǎbljudavašt)
• Hungarian: (of religion) vallásgyakorló, gyakorló (hu), vallásos (hu), hívő (hu), (of law, custom, duty etc.) betartó (hu), megtartó (hu), tiszteletben tartó (hu), követő (hu), szabálykövető

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} aufmerksam (de)

Anagrams

• bevatrons, obversant

Catalan

Verb

observant

1. gerund of observar

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔp.sɛʁ.vɑ̃/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Participle

observant

1. present participle of observer

Further reading

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

Latin

Verb

observant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of observō

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɔp.sɛrˈʋɑŋ/, (neuter singular) /ˌɔp.sɛrˈʋɑŋt/ or
• IPA^(key): /ˌɔp.sɛrˈʋɑnt/

Adjective

observant (indefinite singular observant, definite singular and plural observante)

1. observant
2. attentive

Derived terms

• obs

Related terms

• observere

References

• “observant” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French observant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ob.serˈvant/

Adjective

observant m or n (feminine singular observantă, masculine plural observanți, feminine/neuter plural observante)

1. observant (obeying the custom, practice or rules of a religion)

Declension

Declension of observant

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	observant		observantă	observanți	observante
	definite	observantul		observanta	observanții	observantele
genitive- dative	indefinite	observant		observante	observanți	observante
	definite	observantului		observantei	observanților	observantelor

Related terms

• observator