observance

UK/əbˈzɜːvəns/US/əbˈzɝvəns/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,502 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: observances

Observance is the keeping of a rule, a law or a holy day. Religious observance, strict observance, the observance of the sabbath.

It is about doing rather than believing — a person can keep every observance and hold none of the beliefs behind them, and that gap is a real subject in the sociology of religion. Note observation, which is about watching; the two nouns split their senses cleanly.

Definitions of observance

1nounobservanceThe keeping of a rule, law or holy day.C1
“Shops close early for the observance of the religious holiday.”

observance is a keeping.

Where it comes from

Latin observantia comes from observare, to watch or keep — ob plus servare, to keep.

Latin
observantia
Old French
observance
English, today
observance

From Old French observance, from Latin observantia. Equivalent of observe + -ance.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Weddings & Celebrations

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observance in the wild

Ancient Roman observances during this month include Cervula and Juvenalia, celebrated January 1, as well as one of three Agonalia, celebrated January 9, and Carmentalia, celebrated January 11.
January
At the beginning of the second century the Church Father Ignatius of Antioch approved non-observance of the Sabbath.
Sabbath in Christianity
The keynote of Cistercian life was a return to literal observance of the Benedictine Rule.
Cistercians
The first national observance of what would become Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868.
Memorial Day
The tradition of keeping the Eight Precepts on weekly observance days is still widely practiced in all Theravadin Buddhist countries and communities worldwide.
Eight precepts

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

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