different between apparent vs observable

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French apparent, Old French aparant, in turn from Latin apparens ?-entis, present participle of appareo.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??pæ.??nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??pæ.??nt/, /??p?.??nt/

Adjective

apparent (comparative more apparent, superlative most apparent)

1. Capable of being seen, or easily seen; open to view; visible to the eye, eyely; within sight or view.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV,

     […] Hesperus, that led / The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon, / Rising in clouded majesty, at length / Apparent queen unveiled her peerless light, / And o’er the dark her silver mantle threw.

2. Clear or manifest to the understanding; plain; evident; obvious; known; palpable; indubitable.
   • c. 1595–6, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John, Act IV, Scene 2,

     Salisbury: It is apparent foul-play; and ’tis shame / That greatness should so grossly offer it: / So thrive it in your game! and so, farewell.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 20

     When I came to Renfield's room I found him lying on the floor on his left side in a glittering pool of blood. When I went to move him, it became at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries.

3. Appearing to the eye or mind (distinguished from, but not necessarily opposed to, true or real); seeming.
   • 1785, Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, Essay II (“Of the Powers we have by means of our External Senses”), Chapter XIX (“Of Matter and of Space”),

     What George Berkeley calls visible magnitude was by astronomers called apparent magnitude.

   • 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second,

     To live on terms of civility, and even of apparent friendship.

   • 1911, Encyclopædia Britannica, “Aberration”,

     This apparent motion is due to the finite velocity of light, and the progressive motion of the observer with the earth, as it performs its yearly course about the sun.

Usage notes

• The word apparent has two common uses that are almost in opposition. One means roughly “clear; clearly true”, and serves to make a statement more decisive:

  It was apparent that no one knew the answer. (=No one knew the answer, and it showed.)

• The other is roughly “seeming; to all appearances”, and serves to make a statement less decisive:

  The apparent source of the hubbub was a stray kitten. (=There was a stray kitten, and it seemed to be the source of the hubbub.)

• The same ambivalence occurs with the derived adverb apparently, which usually means “seemingly” but can also mean “clearly”, especially when it is modified by another adverb, such as quite.

Synonyms

• (easy to see): visible, conspicuous, distinct, plain, obvious, clear
• (easy to understand): distinct, plain, obvious, clear, certain, evident, manifest, indubitable, notorious, transparent
• (seeming to be the case): illusory, superficial

Antonyms

• (within sight or view): hidden, invisible
• (clear to the understanding): ambiguous, obscure

Derived terms

• apparency
• apparent horizon
• apparent time
• apparently
• apparentness
• heir apparent

Related terms

• apparition
• appear
• appearance

Translations

References

• apparent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• trappean

French

Etymology

From Old French aparent, aparant, borrowed from Latin apparens, apparentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pa.???/

Adjective

apparent (feminine singular apparente, masculine plural apparents, feminine plural apparentes)

1. apparent (all senses)

Derived terms

• héritier apparent

Related terms

• apparemment
• apparence
• apparaître
• apparoir

Further reading

• “apparent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

apparent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of app?re?
2. third-person plural present active subjunctive of appar?

English

Etymology

observe +? -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?z??(?)v?b?l/

Adjective

observable (comparative more observable, superlative most observable)

1. Able to be observed.
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

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

French

Etymology

observer +? -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p.s??.vabl/

Adjective

observable (plural observables)

1. observable

   Antonym: inobservable

Derived terms

• observabilité

Related terms

• observance
• observant
• observateur

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin observ?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /obse??bable/, [o??.se????a.??le]

Adjective

observable (plural observables)

1. observable

   Antonym: inobservable

Related terms

References

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