observable

English

Etymology

observe + -able

Pronunciation

  • (UK, General Australian) IPA(key): /əbˈzɜː.və.bəl/, [əbˈzɜː.və.bɫ̩]
    • (file)
  • (US, Canada) IPA(key): /əbˈzɝ.və.bəl/, [əbˈzɝ.və.bɫ̩]

Adjective

observable (comparative more observable, superlative most observable)

  1. Able to be observed.
    The strange new star was at the edge of the observable universe.
    • 2004, John Lukacs, A New Republic: A History of the United States in the Twentieth Century:
      In 1913, in the same year that Mother's Day became a nationally observable holiday, the American people passed another milestone: for the first time in American history more than one person in one thousand was divorced.
    • 2008, David J. Teece, Technological Know-how, Organizational Capabilities, and Strategic Management:
      Although intellectual property rights, such as patents, are highly observable, they are mostly limited to product technologies. Process technologies, or the routines endemic in the firm's production, are not readily observable, and thus cannot be easily imitated.
  2. Deserving to be observed; worth regarding; remarkable.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

observable (plural observables)

  1. (physics) Any physical property that can be observed and measured directly and not derived from other properties
    Temperature is an observable but entropy is derived.
    In quantum mechanics, observables correspond to Hermitian operators. Also, they act a lot like random variables. Taking their expected value one may recover something resembling a classical observable.

Translations

French

Etymology

From observer + -able.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔp.sɛʁ.vabl/
  • (file)

Adjective

observable (plural observables)

  1. observable
    Antonym: inobservable

Derived terms

Further reading

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin observābilis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /obseɾˈbable/ [oβ̞.seɾˈβ̞a.β̞le]
  • Rhymes: -able
  • Syllabification: ob‧ser‧va‧ble

Adjective

observable m or f (masculine and feminine plural observables)

  1. observable
    Antonym: inobservable

Further reading

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