Meanings
nounobservatory (plural observatories)
plural observatories
- A place where stars, planets and other celestial bodies are observed, usually through a telescope; also place for observing meteorological or other natural phenomena.
At the observatory on Mauna Kea on Hawaii, a young astronomer, Heidi Hammel, focuses a huge telescope on the remote planet.
1990 August, Rick Gore, “Neptune: Voyager's Last Picture Show”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, page 351 more example
The corporation of Harvard University have passed a vote closing the observatory in Cambridge to the public on Saturday evenings.
1847, editorial staff, “(untitled - Cambridge Observatory)”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 65 - A lookout (vantage point with a view of the surrounding area)
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
nouna structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchobservatoire
- Englishobservatory
Borrowed from French observatoire, equivalent to observe + -atory.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَرْصَد
- مَرْصَد (marṣad)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Basque behatoki
- behatokiplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Bengali মানমন্দির
- মানমন্দির (manomondir)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Bulgarian обсервато́рия
- обсервато́рия (observatórija)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Catalan observatori
- observatoriplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Chinese Mandarin 天文臺 /天文台, 瞭望臺 /瞭望台
- 天文臺 /天文台 (tiānwéntái)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- 瞭望臺 /瞭望台 (liàowàngtái)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Czech hvězdárna, observatoř
- hvězdárnaplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- observatořplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Danish observatorium
- observatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Dutch sterrenwacht, observatorium
- sterrenwachtplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- observatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Esperanto observatorio
- observatorioplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Estonian observatoorium, tähetorn
- observatooriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- tähetornplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Finnish observatorio, havaintoasema
- observatorioplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- havaintoasemaplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- tähtitorniplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- sääasemaplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
French observatoire
- observatoireplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
German Observatorium, Sternwarte
- Observatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- Sternwarteplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Greek αστεροσκοπείο
- αστεροσκοπείο (asteroskopeío)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Hebrew מִצְפֶּה
- מִצְפֶּה (mitspé)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Hindi वेधशाला, वेधालय
- वेधशाला (vedhśālā)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- वेधालय (vedhālay)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- मानमंदिर (mānmandir)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Hungarian obszervatórium
- obszervatóriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Icelandic stjörnustöð
- stjörnustöðplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Indonesian observatorium
- observatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Irish réadlann
- réadlannplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Italian osservatorio
- osservatorioplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Japanese 天文台
- 天文台 (tenmondai)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Korean 천문대
- 천문대 (cheonmundae)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Latin observatorium
- observatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Latvian observatorija
- observatorijaplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Lithuanian observatorija
- observatorijaplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Malay balai cerap
- balai cerapplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Māori whare mātai ātea
- whare mātai āteaplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Norwegian Bokmål observatorium
- observatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Persian رصدخانه
- رصدخانه (rasadxâne)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Polish obserwatorium
- obserwatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Portuguese observatório
- observatórioplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Romanian observator, observator astronomic
- observatorplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- observator astronomicplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Russian обсервато́рия
- обсервато́рия (observatórija)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Scottish Gaelic amharc-lann
- amharc-lannplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Slovak hvezdáreň, observatórium
- hvezdáreňplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- observatóriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Spanish observatorio
- observatorioplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Swedish observatorium
- observatoriumplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Tagalog obserbatoryo
- obserbatoryoplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Thai หอดูดาว
- หอดูดาว (hɔ̌ɔ-duu-daao)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Turkish gözlemevi, observatuar
- gözlemeviplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- observatuarplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
- rasathaneplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Ukrainian обсервато́рія
- обсервато́рія (observatórija)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Urdu رَسَد گاہ
- رَسَد گاہ (rasad-gāh)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Vietnamese đài thiên văn
- đài thiên vănplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Welsh arsyllfa
- arsyllfaplace where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Yiddish אָבסערוואַטאָריע
- אָבסערוואַטאָריע (observatorye)place where celestial bodies or natural phenomena are observed
Cite this entry
APA
observatory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/observatory
MLA
“observatory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/observatory. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “observatory,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/observatory.
Source: observatory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.