observance
Other forms: observances
Observance is when you obey a rule or law, or follow a long-standing tradition. If your religious observance requires you to fast for several days, you might ask your track coach to let you sit out a race.
Observance of traffic laws will usually keep you from getting expensive speeding tickets. And, practicing a religion usually includes various kinds of observance, from attending church or temple to wearing certain items of clothing. You can also use this noun to mean "watching or noticing," like a bird watcher's careful observance of a bush where he once spotted a rare finch — although this is more commonly called observation.
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conformity with law, custom, practice, etc.synonyms: honoringantonyms:nonobservancea lack of conformity with law or custom or practice etc.types:punctiliostrict observance of formalitiestype of:
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a formal event performed on a special occasionsynonyms: ceremonial, ceremonial occasion, ceremonytypes:circumstanceformal ceremony about important occasionsfunerala ceremony at which a dead person is buried or crematedhymeneals, nuptials, wedding, wedding ceremonythe social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performeddedicationa ceremony in which something (as a building) is dedicated to some goal or purposeopeninga ceremony accompanying the start of some enterprisecommemoration, memorialisation, memorializationa ceremony to honor the memory of someone or somethingmilitary ceremonya formal ceremony performed by military personnelexercise(usually plural) a ceremony that involves processions and speechesfire walkingthe ceremony of walking barefoot over hot stones or a bed of embersMaundya public ceremony on Maundy Thursday when the monarch distributes Maundy moneypotlatcha ceremonial feast held by some Indians of the northwestern coast of North America (as in celebrating a marriage or a new accession) in which the host gives gifts to tribesmen and others to display his superior wealth (sometimes, formerly, to his own impoverishment)sky buriala traditional Tibetan funeral ritual in which the corpse is exposed to the open air to be eaten by sacred vulturesrededicationa new dedicationcoronation, enthronement, enthronisation, enthronization, investiturethe ceremony of installing a new monarchbar mitzvah(Judaism) an initiation ceremony marking the 13th birthday of a Jewish boy and signifying the beginning of religious responsibilitybas mitzvah, bat mitzvah, bath mitzvah(Judaism) an initiation ceremony marking the 12th birthday of a Jewish girl and signifying the beginning of religious responsibilitycommencement, commencement ceremony, commencement exercise, graduation, graduation exercisean academic exercise in which diplomas are conferredtype of:
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the act of observing; taking a patient looksynonyms: observation, watchingtypes:monitoringthe act of observing something (and sometimes keeping a record of it)sightingthe act of observingstargazingobservation of the starslandfallthe first sighting of land from the sea after a voyage (or flight over water)type of:
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the act of noticing or paying attention
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Vocabulary lists containing observance
When Bassanio, a merchant, needs money to court Portia, his friend Antonio makes a risky deal with a moneylender. Read the full text here.
In this comedy, various exiles — including Duke Senior, his daughter Rosalind, her cousin Celia, a nobleman named Orlando, and a fool — flee to the forest Arden.
