Observance
[əb'zɜːv(ə)ns] or [əb'zɝvəns]
Definition
(n.) The act or practice of observing or noticing with attention; a heeding or keeping with care; performance; -- usually with a sense of strictness and fidelity; as, the observance of the Sabbath is general; the strict observance of duties.
(n.) An act, ceremony, or rite, as of worship or respect; especially, a customary act or service of attention; a form; a practice; a rite; a custom.
(n.) Servile attention; sycophancy.
Editor: Lois
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Performance, fulfilment, discharge, acquittal.[2]. Form, ceremony, ceremonial, rite, practice, custom, usage, fashion.
Inputed by Gavin
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Attention, fulfilment, respect, celebration, performance, ceremony, custom,form, rule, practice
ANT:Inobservance, inattention, breach, disrespect, disregard, desuetude, disuse,non-performance, informality, ceremoniousness, omission,
Inputed by Frances
Examples
- Meess Lucie has regarded this ceremony as too frivolous to be honoured by her observance. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Another large part of his recorded utterances is aimed against the meticulous observance of the rules of the pious career. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Churchills might not have a word to say in return; but then, you would have no habits of early obedience and long observance to break through. Jane Austen. Emma.
- I recollect but one occasion when this observance seemed to be broken by the inhabitants. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- They promised faithful observance of directions. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Nothing is more vigilant and inventive than our passions; and nothing is more obvious, than the convention for the observance of these rules. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- The facts in each case so frequently create an exception to the general rule that such rule must be honored rather in its breach than in its observance. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- If so, his better nature pronounced the vow more honoured in the breach than in the observance, for with a second effort, he spoke. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Of course I felt my good faith involved in the observance of his request. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- His characteristic talk, with its keen observance of detail and subtle power of inference held me amused and enthralled. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Nine o'clock was an early hour for a visit, but Selden had passed beyond all such conventional observances. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- It was primarily a religion of conduct, not a religion of observances and sacrifices. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Typed by Brian