observance
pronunciation
How to pronounce observance in British English:
UK [əbˈzɜːvəns]
How to pronounce observance in American English:
US [əbˈzɜːrvəns]
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- Noun:
- the act of observing; taking a patient look
- a formal event performed on a special occasion
- the act of noticing or paying attention
- conformity with law or custom or practice etc.
Word Origin
- observance (n.)
- early 13c., "act performed in accordance with prescribed usage," especially a religious or ceremonial one, from Old French observance, osservance "observance, discipline," or directly from Latin observantia "act of keeping customs, attention, respect, regard, reverence," from observantem (nominative observans), present participle of observare (see observe). Observance is the attending to and carrying out of a duty or rule. Observation is watching, noticing.
Example
- 1. As for the future , each of them should enter into an indenture with the accounting standards board , promising strict observance of professional standards .
- 2. But what the story of libor shows is that this free market language has been honoured as much in the breach as the observance , to borrow shakespeare 's phrase .
- 3. So is the decline in religious observance a moral problem ?
- 4. One of the new pope 's primary areas of concern is likely to be what is called europe 's silent apostasy , the sharp decline in catholic church attendance and religious observance .
- 5. The annual state department report to congress on observance of the hague convention lists honduras as " non-compliant " and nine other countries ( brazil , bulgaria , chile , ecuador , germany , greece , mexico , poland and venezuela ) as showing " patterns of non-compliance " .