Observatory

How to spell observatory

11 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce observatory

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does observatory mean?

1. nounA building or institution equipped for observing astronomical, meteorological, or other natural phenomena.

Observatory in a sentence

• The astronomer booked a night at the mountain observatory to track the comet.

• The university opened a new observatory fitted with a powerful telescope.

Where does observatory come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin verb observare, meaning 'to watch over' or 'to attend to', formed from ob- 'towards' and servare 'to watch, keep or guard'. Latin built the related noun observatorium to mean a place set aside for watching, and that ending, the -atorium pattern that marks a place of action, is the same one behind words like dormitory and laboratory. English adopted observatory in the seventeenth century, just as astronomy was becoming a serious scientific pursuit, to name a building equipped for studying the stars and the weather. The same servare root survives in conserve, preserve and reserve, all carrying the idea of keeping or guarding something. The spelling trap lies in the unstressed middle, the -serv- followed by the easily blurred -atory, which speakers often slur into something like 'observatry'.

How the word is built

• ob- (towards)
• serv (watch/keep)
• -atory (place for doing)