I know I'm splitting hairs over here but can someone confirm with me the difference between "Observe" and "Observate".
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/observate
I feel there is a very fine difference between the two words. The first one "Observe" feels more general, looking at a whole scene with many elements, whereas "Observate" has a slight scientific tone and focus on looking at only one particular element (i.e. ignoring irrelevant stuff in the scene background).
I ran a google search before posting this and saw many sources using the word “observate” including an entry in the online Oxford dictionary. I also vaguely remember this word from chemistry class at school. Hence my confusion.
Best Answer
"Observate" is not a real word. "Observe"(v.), "observation"(n.), and "observant"(adj.) are words, but "observate" (and its commonly used brother "observating") is not a word. Many people use these two terms, but they're not in any* dictionary (that I could find) other than Urban Dictionary.
Source: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/observating.1175407/
Edit: *Apparently "observate" is found in exactly one dictionary.
Edit 2: This is all I got from the Cambridge dictionary online; where did you find an entry?