What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Occurrence vs Observation - What's the difference?

occurrence | observation |

As nouns the difference between occurrence and observation

is that occurrence is actual instance where a situation arises while observation is the act of observing, and the fact of being observed.

occurrence

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Actual instance where a situation arises.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}

    Usage notes

    * This word is often misspelled occurence'', ''occurrance'' or ''occurance .

    observation

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of observing, and the fact of being observed.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April, author=(Jeremy Bernstein)
  • , volume=100, issue=2, page=146, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= A Palette of Particles , passage=The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.}}
  • The act of noting and recording some event; or the record of such noting.
  • A remark or comment.
  • * Shakespeare
  • That's a foolish observation .
  • * Alexander Pope
  • To observations which ourselves we make / We grow more partial for the observer's sake.
  • A judgement based on observing.
  • Performance of what is prescribed; adherence in practice; observance.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • We are to procure dispensation or leave to omit the observation of it in such circumstances.

    Derived terms

    * observation car