different between seek vs observe
seek
English
Etymology
From Middle English seken (also sechen, whence dialectal English seech), from Old English s??an, with influence from Old Norse sœkja, whence the hard /k/ sound (compare beseech); both from Proto-Germanic *s?kijan? (“to seek”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh?g- (“to seek out”). Cognate with West Frisian sykje, Dutch zoeken, Low German söken, German suchen, Danish søge, Icelandic sækja, Norwegian Bokmål søke, Norwegian Nynorsk søkja, Swedish söka.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /si?k/, s?k
- Homophone: Sikh
- Rhymes: -i?k
Verb
seek (third-person singular simple present seeks, present participle seeking, simple past and past participle sought)
- (transitive, intransitive) To try to find; to look for; to search for.
- (transitive) To ask for; to solicit; to beseech.
- 1611, Bible (King James Version), Luke xi. 16
- Others, tempting him, sought of him a sign.
- 1960, Lobsang Rampa, The Rampa Story:
- “My, my! It is indeed a long way yet, look you!” said the pleasant woman of whom I sought directions.
- 1611, Bible (King James Version), Luke xi. 16
- (transitive) To try to acquire or gain; to strive after; to aim at.
- 1880, George Q. Cannon, How the Gospel is Preached By the Elders, etc.:
- But persecution sought the lives of men of this character.
- 1886, Constantine Popoff, translation of Leo Tolstoy's What I Believe:
- I can no longer seek fame or glory, nor can I help trying to get rid of my riches, which separate me from my fellow-creatures.
- Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
- 1880, George Q. Cannon, How the Gospel is Preached By the Elders, etc.:
- (intransitive, obsolete) To go, move, travel (in a given direction).
- Ryght so he sought […] towarde Sandewyche where he founde before hym many galyard knyghtes
- (transitive) To try to reach or come to; to go to; to resort to.
- Seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
- 1726 (tr.), Alexander Pope, Homer's Odyssey, Book II, line 33
- Since great Ulysses sought the Phrygian plains
- (intransitive) To attempt, endeavour, try
- Our company does not seek to limit its employees from using the internet or engaging in social networking.
- (intransitive, computing) To navigate through a stream.
- Synonym: scrub
- 2009, Jit Ghosh, Rob Cameron, Silverlight 2 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (page 541)
- Most of the changes made to this control are to accommodate the various constraints that playback of streaming media may impose in broadcast streams, such as the inability to seek through the media.
Quotations
For more quotations using this term, see Citations:seek.
Usage notes
- The word is sometimes used to mean "try" or "want". This usage is criticized by Fowler in the entry "Formal Words".
Synonyms
- look for
- search
Derived terms
Related terms
- hide and seek
- seeker
Translations
Noun
seek (plural seeks)
- (computing) The operation of navigating through a stream.
- 2012, Aidong Zhang, Avi Silberschatz, Sharad Mehrotra, Continuous Media Databases (page 120)
- The number of seeks to retrieve a shot […] depends on the location of those frames on physical blocks.
- 2012, Aidong Zhang, Avi Silberschatz, Sharad Mehrotra, Continuous Media Databases (page 120)
Anagrams
- eeks, ekes, kees, seke, skee
Estonian
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle Low German sêkhûs (“hospital”) (equivalent to sêk +? hûs). From Proto-West Germanic *seuk, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *seukaz (“sick”). Compare German Siechenhaus (“infirmary”), English sickhouse.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?se?k/
- Rhymes: -e?k
- Hyphenation: seek
Noun
seek (genitive seegi, partitive seeki)
- almshouse
- A residence and shelter for sick people in the Middle Ages.
- (colloquial) A nursing home, retirement home; poorhouse
Declension
References
- seek” in Sõnaveeb
seek From the web:
- what seek ye
- what seeking means
- what seek ye kjv
- what seek ye scripture
- what seek ye lds
- what seekest thou
- what seeketh thee
- what seekers bear are you
observe
English
Etymology
From Middle French observer, from Old French [Term?], from Latin observare (“to watch, note, mark, heed, guard, keep, pay attention to, regard, comply with, etc.”), from ob (“before”) + servare (“to keep”), from Proto-Indo-European *serw- (“to guard”). Cognate with Gothic ???????????????????? (sarwa, “weapons, armour”), Old English searu (“device, design, contrivance, art, cunning, craft, artifice, wile, deceit, stratagem, ambush, treachery, plot, trick, snare, ambuscade, cleverness, machine, engine, fabric, armor, equipment, arms”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?b?z??v/, (rare) /?b?z??v/
- (General American, Canada) enPR: ?b-zûrv?, IPA(key): /?b?z?v/
- Rhymes: -??(?)v
- Hyphenation: ob?serve
Verb
observe (third-person singular simple present observes, present participle observing, simple past and past participle observed)
- (transitive) To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.
- 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
- “One horse?” interjected Holmes. ¶ “Yes, only one.” ¶ “Did you observe the colour?”
- 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
- (transitive) To follow or obey the custom, practice, or rules (especially of a religion).
- (transitive) To take note of and celebrate (a holiday or similar occurrence); to follow (a type of time or calendar reckoning).
- Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread.
- 2020 (March 7), Jackie Dunham, "Daylight time: How to get enough sleep when the clocks spring forward, CTV News:
- On Sunday, most of Canada will observe daylight time and spring forward an hour in order to reflect the increasing sunlight.
- (intransitive) 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
Translations
Further reading
- observe in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- observe in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- obverse, verbose
French
Verb
observe
- first-person singular present indicative of observer
- third-person singular present indicative of observer
- first-person singular present subjunctive of observer
- third-person singular present subjunctive of observer
- second-person singular imperative of observer
Portuguese
Verb
observe
- first-person singular present subjunctive of observar
- third-person singular present subjunctive of observar
- first-person singular imperative of observar
- third-person singular imperative of observar
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ob?serve]
Verb
observe
- third-person singular present subjunctive of observa
- third-person plural present subjunctive of observa
Spanish
Verb
observe
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of observar.
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of observar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of observar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of observar.
observe From the web:
- what observe mean
- what observed holiday means
- what observes coronal mass ejections
- what observers do in minecraft
- what observed rotation is expected when a
- what observed in hypotonic solution with rbcs
- what does observe mean
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