observable

English

Etymology

observe +‎ -able

Adjective

observable (comparative more observable, superlative most observable)

1. Able to be observed.

   The strange new star was at the edge of the observable universe.

   • 2004, John Lukacs, A New Republic: A History of the United States in the Twentieth Century:

     In 1913, in the same year that Mother's Day became a nationally observable holiday, the American people passed another milestone: for the first time in American history more than one person in one thousand was divorced.

   • 2008, David J. Teece, Technological Know-how, Organizational Capabilities, and Strategic Management:

     Although intellectual property rights, such as patents, are highly observable, they are mostly limited to product technologies. Process technologies, or the routines endemic in the firm's production, are not readily observable, and thus cannot be easily imitated.

2. Deserving to be observed; worth regarding; remarkable.

Synonyms

• (able to be observed): noticeable, perceivable; see also Thesaurus:perceptible
• (deserving to be observed): eminent, noteworthy; see also Thesaurus:notable

Translations

able to be observed

• Catalan: observable
• Czech: pozorovatelný m
• Esperanto: observebla
• Finnish: havaittavissa oleva, havaittava (fi)
• French: observable (fr)
• German: beobachtbar
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: obserwowalny (pl)
• Portuguese: observável
• Russian: наблюда́емый (ru) (nabljudájemyj)
• Spanish: observable

deserving to be observed

• Finnish: huomionarvoinen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Noun

observable (plural observables)

1. (physics) Any physical property that can be observed and measured directly and not derived from other properties

   Temperature is an observable but entropy is derived.

   In quantum mechanics, observables correspond to Hermitian operators. Also, they act a lot like random variables. Taking their expected value one may recover something resembling a classical observable.

Translations

any physical property

• French: observable (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

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French

Etymology

observer +‎ -able

Adjective

observable (plural observables)

1. observable

Derived terms

• observabilité

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Spanish

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin observabilis

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /obseɾˈbable/ [oβ̞.seɾˈβ̞a.β̞le]

Adjective

observable m or f (masculine and feminine plural observables)

1. observable

   Antonym: inobservable

Related terms

• observación
• observacional
• observador
• observancia
• observante
• observar
• observatorio

 

References

• “observable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014