Observatory

ɒbˈzɜːrvətəri

nounmedium📊CommonScience
1 meaning2 questions

Definitions

1

A building or institution equipped for observing natural phenomena, especially celestial bodies.

ɒbˈzɜːrvətəri

nounneutralmedium
Science

A building equipped for observing natural phenomena.

The observatory is located on a mountaintop to minimize light pollution.

💡 Simply: Imagine a building with giant telescopes where scientists stare at the stars. That's an observatory! They watch and study space stuff. Like a big, fancy playground for stargazers!

👶 For kids: A special building with telescopes where scientists look at stars, planets, and the moon.

More Examples

2

Researchers at the observatory are constantly monitoring the movements of celestial bodies.

3

The new telescope at the observatory will allow for deeper space observations.

How It's Used

Astronomy

"The astronomical observatory provided valuable data about distant galaxies."

Meteorology

"The weather observatory recorded temperature and rainfall data."

From Late Latin *observatorium*, from *observare* (“to observe”).

Historically, observatories were crucial for navigation and calendar-making.

Memory tip

Think of a place where people OBSERVE the sky (or other natural events).

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"to observe, watch"

astronomical observatoryweather observatorypublic observatoryresearch observatory

Common misspellings

observitoryobservitorys

Usage

30%Spoken
70%Written