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.

   • 2024 September 4, Philip Haigh, “Can public-private partnerships be made to deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 53:

     Treasury could also ask why High Speed 2's finances are so adrift from what was promised. The answers will make for difficult DfT reading, because it can't escape the fact that it has been the government department overseeing rail spending for the past 20 years.

1. To inspect, examine

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

2. (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.

3. 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