oversee

English

Etymology

From Middle English overseen, ouverseen, from Old English ofersēon (“to observe, oversee; to overlook, neglect”), equivalent to over- +‎ see.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊ.vəˈsiː/, [ˌəʊ̯.vəˈsiː]

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊ.vɚˈsi/, [ˌoʊ̯.vɚˈsi]
• (New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌɐʉ.vəˈsiː/, [ˌɐʉ̯.vɐˈsiː]
• Hyphenation: over‧see
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophone: oversea

Verb

oversee (third-person singular simple present oversees, present participle overseeing, simple past oversaw, past participle overseen) (transitive)

1. (literally) To survey, look at something in a wide angle.
2. (figuratively) To supervise, guide, review or direct the actions of a person or group.

   Synonym: superintend

   It is congress's duty to oversee the spending of federal funds.

   • 2022 February 9, Tom Allett, “The BTP's eyes and ears in the air”, in RAIL, number 950, page 50:

     Based at BTP's London headquarters, Russell's team of three full-timers in the drone unit are responsible for overseeing the safety of drones in support of police officers.

3. To inspect, examine

   Gamekeepers oversee a hunting ground to see to the wildlife's welfare and look for poachers.

4. (obsolete) To fail to see; to overlook, ignore.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Thereat the Elfe did blush in priuitee, / And turnd his face away; but she the same / Dissembled faire, and faynd to ouersee.

5. To observe secretly or unintentionally.

Derived terms

• overseer
• oversight

Related terms

• overhear

Translations

to survey, look at something in a wide angle

• Bulgarian: преглеждам (bg) (pregleždam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 调查 (zh) (diàochá)

• Dutch: overzien (nl), overschouwen (nl)
• Finnish: katsoa (fi), valvoa (fi)
• German: überblicken (de)
• Italian: sondare (it)
• Polish: przeglądać (pl) impf, przejrzeć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: sondar (pt)
• Russian: обозревать (ru) (obozrevatʹ)
• Turkish: bakmak (tr), gözetmek (tr), izlemek (tr), gözetim altında tutmak

to supervise, guide, review or direct the actions of a person or group

• Albanian: mbikëqyr (sq)
• Arabic: أَشْرَفَ عَلَى (ar) (ʔašrafa ʕalā)
• Bulgarian: надзиравам (bg) (nadziravam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 監督／监督 (zh) (jiāndū), 指导 (zh) (zhǐdǎo)

• Dutch: toezien op, toezicht houden op, een oog(je) houden op
• Finnish: valvoa (fi), johtaa (fi)
• French: superviser (fr)
• German: beaufsichtigen (de), überwachen (de), leiten (de), managen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐφοράω (ephoráō)

• Italian: supervisionare
• Middle English: surveyen
• Polish: nadzorować (pl) impf, doglądać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: supervisionar (pt)
• Spanish: supervisar (es)
• Tocharian B: yärp-
• Tok Pisin: bosim
• Turkish: idare etmek (tr), yönetmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: наглядати (nahljadaty)

to inspect, examine

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 检查 (zh) (jiǎnchá)

• Dutch: bekijken (nl), toezien op
• Finnish: tarkastella (fi), katsoa (fi), tutkia (fi)
• German: beaufsichtigen (de), überwachen (de)
• Italian: esaminare (it), ispezionare (it)
• Middle English: surveyen
• Turkish: denetlemek (tr), kontrol etmek (tr)

to see secretly or unintentionally

• Bulgarian: съглеждам (bg) (sǎgleždam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 监督 (zh) (jiāndū)

• Finnish: nähdä (fi), tarkkailla (fi), kytätä (fi)
• Portuguese: vigiar (pt)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} superviser (fr)
• German: ^{(please verify)} überblicken (de), ^{(please verify)} beaufsichtigen (de)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} supervisar (es)

See also

• overlook
• overwatch

Anagrams

• see over