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Study vs Observe - What's the difference?

study | observe | Related terms |

As verbs the difference between study and observe

is that study is to revise materials already learned in order to make sure one does not forget them, usually in preparation for an examination while observe is to notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.

As a noun study

is a state of mental perplexity or worried thought.

study

English

Verb

(en-verb)
  • (usually, academic) To revise materials already learned in order to make sure one does not forget them, usually in preparation for an examination.
  • Students are expected to start studying for final exams in March.
    I need to study my biology notes.
  • (academic) To take a course or courses on a subject.
  • I study medicine at the university.
  • To acquire knowledge on a subject.
  • Biologists study living things.
  • To look at minutely.
  • He studied the map in preparation for the hike.
  • To fix the mind closely upon a subject; to dwell upon anything in thought; to muse; to ponder.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • I found a moral first, and then studied for a fable.
  • To endeavor diligently; to be zealous.
  • * Bible, 1 Thessalonians iv. 11
  • And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you

    Synonyms

    * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Noun

    (studies)
  • (label) A state of mental perplexity or worried thought.
  • *:
  • *:wel said the kynge thow mayst take myn hors by force but and I my?te preue the whether thow were better on horsbak or I / wel said the knyght seke me here whan thow wolt and here nygh this wel thow shalt fynde me / and soo passyd on his weye / thenne the kyng sat in a study and bad his men fetche his hors as faste as euer they myghte
  • (label) Thought, as directed to a specific purpose; one's concern.
  • :
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:Just men they seemed, and all their study bent / To worship God aright, and know his works.
  • Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning.
  • :
  • *1661 , , The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  • *:During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study ; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
  • *1699 , , Heads designed for an essay on conversations
  • *:Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April, author=John T. Jost
  • , volume=100, issue=2, page=162, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)? , passage=He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.}}
  • The act of studying; examination.
  • :
  • Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any object of attentive consideration.
  • *(William Law) (1686-1761)
  • *:The Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament, are her daily study .
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:The proper study of mankind is man.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Katie L. Burke
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= In the News , passage=Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:
  • (senseid)A room in a house intended for reading and writing; traditionally the private room of the male head of household.
  • :
  • *(Nathaniel Hawthorne) (1804-1864)
  • *:his cheery little study
  • An artwork made in order to practise or demonstrate a subject or technique.
  • :
  • (label) A piece for special practice; an .
  • Synonyms

    * (private male room) cabinet, closet (archaic)

    Coordinate terms

    * (private male room) boudoir (female equivalent)

    Hyponyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * brown study

    Statistics

    *

    observe

    English

    Verb

    (observ)
  • (lb) To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.
  • :
  • *1892 , (Arthur Conan Doyle),
  • *:“One horse?” interjected Holmes. ¶ “Yes, only one.” ¶ “Did you observe the colour?”
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, author=Frank Fish, George Lauder
  • , volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Not Just Going with the Flow , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
  • (lb) To follow or obey the custom, practice, or rules (especially of a religion).
  • :
  • *Bible, (w)
  • *:Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
  • , title= England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report , passage=A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward. }}
  • (lb) To comment on something; to make an observation.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ ("I never) understood it," she observed , lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
  • Synonyms

    * (follow a custom) celebrate

    Derived terms

    * observance * observant * observation * observational * observatory * observer

    Anagrams

    * * English reporting verbs ----