Etymology

observation

ob·ser·va·tion
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Today it means: The act of observing, and the fact of being observed (see observance) Full definition →

Middle English observacion ← Middle French observacion ← French observation
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The story

  1. Latin · learned borrowing fromobservātiō(n-)
  2. French · derived fromobservation
  3. Middle French · derived fromobservacion
  4. Middle English · inherited fromobservacion
  5. English todayobservation

From Middle English observacion, borrowed from Middle French observacion. Also a borrowing from French observation and a learned borrowing from Latin observātiō(n-). Morphologically observe + -ation.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.