oversee

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əʊvə(ɹ)siː/
• 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.

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

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

Translations

to survey, look at something in a wide angle

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 调查 (zh) (diàochá)

• Dutch: overzien (nl), overschouwen
• German: überblicken (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)
• 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)
• French: superviser (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: beaufsichtigen (de), überwachen (de), leiten (de), managen (de)
• Polish: nadzorować (pl) impf, doglądać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: supervisionar (pt)
• Spanish: supervisar (es)
• Tok Pisin: bosim
• Turkish: idare etmek (tr), yönetmek (tr)

to inspect, examine

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 检查 (zh) (jiǎnchá)

• Dutch: bekijken (nl), toezien op
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: beaufsichtigen (de), überwachen (de)
• Turkish: denetlemek (tr), kontrol etmek (tr)

to see secretly or unintentionally

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 监督 (zh) (jiāndū)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: nähdä (fi), tarkkailla (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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} supervisar (es)

See also

• overlook
• overwatch

Anagrams

• see over