supervision
Americannoun
Usage
What does supervision mean? Supervision is the act of overseeing or watching over someone or something. Supervision is the noun form of the verb supervise, meaning to oversee or watch over. You can supervise a project, but most of the time supervision means supervising people, especially parents supervising their children or a manager or supervisor supervising their employees. Someone or something being supervised is said to be under supervision. When it’s used in the context of adults watching children, the word often appears in the phrases parental supervision and adult supervision. Children or other people who can’t be left alone are said to need constant supervision. Example: All children in this building must be under adult supervision.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of supervision
1615–25; < Medieval Latin supervīsiōn- (stem of supervīsiō ) oversight, equivalent to super- super- + vīsiōn- vision
Explanation
When you keep an eye on someone, that's supervision. Small children require supervision when they're swimming, and a middle school math class needs supervision while they're taking a quiz. To watch over and keep people (or animals) safe, or to watch and manage them while they work, is to supervise them. The act of doing this is supervision. If your boss lets you work without supervision, that means that she doesn't feel the need to observe you while you get your job done. Supervision and supervise stem from the Latin roots super, "over," and videre, "to see."
Vocabulary lists containing supervision
myPerspectives 7.1
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Employment, List 1
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Selection Vocabulary 3, Unit 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The modest early move came after Tesla released safety data on Dutch drivers using the company’s Full Self-Driving product, which can handle most driving tasks but still requires 100% driver supervision.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
There is also new supervision for U.S. query terms to require approval by FBI attorneys, an audit by the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Bowman, a former community banker and state bank commissioner who generally favors a more hands-off approach to supervision, said certain post-2008-09 financial crisis banking restrictions led to private credit expanding outside of banking.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
The enriched uranium could also be “destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location” under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Trump said on Truth Social.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
Now their school day would truly begin, for what could be more educashawoo—that is to say, educational—than free time and a lack of supervision?
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
