- 1
An observatory is a special building where scientists watch the sky — the moon, the stars, planets, and sometimes the weather. It often sits on a hill or a mountain, and the roof may open so a big telescope can look up. Though actually, not every observatory is for stars. Some watch the weather; some listen for radio signals from space. In everyday English, if someone says observatory they almost always mean the star-watching place. It is a place for looking carefully, not a museum and not a school, even if school groups visit.
天文台（看天氣的則說氣象觀測站）
組成Borrowed from French observatoire, equivalent to observe + -atory (a place for an action).
同家族的字
- observethe verb: to watch carefully
- observationthe act of watching
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
observatorynoun/əbˈzɜːvət(ə)ɹi/
- 1
A place where stars, planets and other celestial bodies are observed, usually through a telescope; also place for observing meteorological or other natural phenomena.
- The corporation of Harvard University have passed a vote closing the observatory in Cambridge to the public on Saturday evenings.
- At the observatory on Mauna Kea on Hawaii, a young astronomer, Heidi Hammel, focuses a huge telescope on the remote planet.
- 2
A lookout (vantage point with a view of the surrounding area)
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。