observation Copy link Outline I. The act of observing or taking notice1. observātio2. nŏtātio (careful marking)3. ănĭmadversio (attention)4. contemplātio (viewing, gazing upon)II. A remark, esp. of a critical or exegetical kind • observation: I. The act of observing or taking notice: 1. observātio: o. of the heavenly bodies, obs. siderum, Cic. Div. 1, 1, 2: things learned by o., quae observatione cognita sunt, ib. 2, 12, init. 2. nŏtātio (careful marking): Join: notatio [naturae] et animadversio, Cic. Or. 55, 183. 3. ănĭmadversio (attention): v. supr. (2). 4. contemplātio (viewing, gazing upon): nothing to interfere with their o. of the heavens, nihil quod contemplationi coeli officere posset, Cic. Div. 1, 42, 93. (Or expr. by verb: to pursue celestial o.s, siderum motus observare to take such o.s astronomically, positus siderum ac spatia dimetiri, Tac. A. 6, 21: to do so in a ceremonial or augural sense, de coelo servare, Cic. Ph. 2, 32, 81: v. to observe.) II. A remark, esp. of a critical or exegetical kind: observātio: o.s on the ancient dialect, obs. sermonis antiqui, Suet. Gr. extr. See also note.