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Observation vs Reflection - What's the difference?

observation | reflection | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between observation and reflection

is that observation is the act of observing, and the fact of being observed while reflection is the act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.

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

    reflection

    English

    Alternative forms

    * reflexion

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
  • The property of a propagated wave being thrown back from a surface (such as a mirror).
  • Something, such as an image, that is reflected.
  • (senseid) Careful thought or consideration.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond, his grandfather's darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance appeared to lose himself in his own reflections .}}
  • An implied criticism.
  • (label) The process or mechanism of determining the capabilities of an object at run-time.
  • Derived terms

    * reflectional * reflectionless * self-reflection

    See also

    * refraction * diffraction