observer

 
Pronunciation: /əbˈzəːvə/

noun

  • a person who watches or notices something: to a casual observer, he was at peace
  • a person who follows events closely and comments publicly on them: some observers expect interest rates to rise
  • a person posted in an official capacity to an area to monitor political or military events: elections scrutinized by international observers
  • a person who attends a conference, inquiry, etc., to note the proceedings without participating in them: he had been invited to attend the meeting as an observer
  • a person trained to spot and identify enemy aircraft or to reconnoitre enemy positions from the air: the Royal Observer Corps