surveillance
Americannoun
-
surveillances
plural
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a watch kept over a person, group, etc., especially over a suspect, prisoner, or the like.
The suspects were under police surveillance.
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continuous observation of a place, person, group, or ongoing activity in order to gather information.
video cameras used for covert surveillance.
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attentive observation, as to oversee and direct someone or something.
increased surveillance of patients with chronic liver disease.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of surveillance
1790–1800; < French, equivalent to surveill ( er ) to watch over ( sur- sur- 1 + veiller < Latin vigilāre to watch; see vigil) + -ance -ance
Explanation
Many times, a person suspected of something illegal by the authorities is placed under surveillance, meaning he or she is closely watched to see if their suspicions are well-founded. If you break down the word surveillance you get the prefix sur, from the French word for "over" and the root veiller, meaning "to watch." All of which is a roundabout way of saying that if you are under surveillance, you are being closely watched — usually by the authorities, and usually not for a good reason! Those surveillance cameras in banks and stores are put there in the hopes of both preventing crimes and recognizing criminals after a crime has been committed.
Vocabulary lists containing surveillance
John F. Kennedy's Address to the American People on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
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This Week In Words: August 1–6, 2020
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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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.
See Examples For:
"Prince's group is said to have supported Congolese special operations forces and army units with drone surveillance and other technical assistance."
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
One crucial capability: American surveillance can give a very detailed picture of Russian air defenses through the systems’ electromagnetic signatures, said Withington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Anduril is a military technology company, and it produces drones and surveillance systems.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
She also said the ophthalmology "capacity appears insufficient to meet the demand", adding that the absence of a national mechanism means those "requiring surveillance for ophthalmic conditions may experience prolonged delays".
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
He forged a close relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, hectoring the FBI director to institute ever more intensive surveillance of Oppenheimer’s movements and telephone calls.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
And with the increased use of the Internet and so that changed the level of technical complexity of the surveillances that the FBI wanted to do.
From MSNBC ● May 30, 2019
"I have conducted surveillances for Triangle in England, in South America, Miami, California, Hong Kong, Peru, Alaska. I travel all over the world doing these surveillances and nothing really changes," Sullivan said.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2015
I am still being surveilled, but now it’s much harder to tie all those small surveillances back to me and ads don’t follow me around.
From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2015
Del Rosario said the latest Chinese activity in Scarborough Shoal was discussed at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where fresh surveillances pictures were shown.
From Reuters ● Sep. 4, 2013
No. I never had the occasion, but I've seen guardsmen run remote surveillances, and even exert control when necessary.
From The Players by Steve Solomon
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
