proctor

American  

[prok-ter] / ˈprɒk tər /

noun

• proctors
  plural

1. a person appointed to keep watch over students at examinations.

2. an official charged with various duties, especially with the maintenance of good order.

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verb (used with or without object)

• proctors,
  present (3rd person singular)
• proctored,
  past participle,  past
• proctoring
  present participle

1. to supervise or monitor.

proctor British  

/ prɒkˈtɔːrɪəl, ˈprɒktə /

noun

1. a member of the teaching staff of any of certain universities having the duties of enforcing discipline

2. (in a college or university) a supervisor or monitor who invigilates examinations, enforces discipline, etc

3. (formerly) an agent, esp one engaged to conduct another's case in a court

4. (formerly) an agent employed to collect tithes

5. Church of England one of the elected representatives of the clergy in Convocation and the General Synod

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verb

1. (tr) to invigilate (an examination)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• proctorship
  noun
• subproctor
  noun
• subproctorship
  noun
• proctorial
  adjective
• subproctorial
  adjective
• proctorially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• proctors
  plural

Participles

• proctoring
  present
• proctored
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• proctor
  simple
• proctors
  simple
• have proctored
  perfect
• has proctored
  perfect
• am proctoring
  progressive
• are proctoring
  progressive
• is proctoring
  progressive
• have been proctoring
  perfect progressive
• has been proctoring
  perfect progressive

Past

• proctored
  simple
• had proctored
  perfect
• was proctoring
  progressive
• were proctoring
  progressive
• had been proctoring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will proctor
  simple
• will have proctored
  perfect
• will be proctoring
  progressive
• will have been proctoring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of proctor

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; contracted variant of procurator

Explanation

A proctor keeps an eye on students who are taking a test to make sure they don't cheat. The invention of the cell phone has certainly made proctors' lives tougher. For college entrance exams, students are often supervised by a professional proctor, while in less official situations, like a pop quiz, the proctor is usually the teacher herself. Proctor is both a noun and a verb, so you might say that a proctor's job is to proctor, or make sure no test-takers' eyes are straying. The Latin root word is procuratorem, which means "manager."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

proctor proctors proctored proctoring

She applied and soon landed an interview, conducted by an unseen AI proctor with a male-sounding voice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026

An heir to the Hot Pockets fortune also admitted to paying Singer $100,000 to have a proctor correct her two daughters’ ACT exam answers.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2023

The proctor administering an exam in his pre-calc class this spring leaned in and whispered, “What are you doing here?” as Beyer handed in his test.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 28, 2022

Ambrozich accompanies her teams for longer trips to proctor exams and monitor study hall sessions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2022

“I only have a moment,” the proctor said.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

It goes back to the 19th century, when students petitioned to eliminate proctors during examinations, according to the student newspaper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Kayla and Kellie had turned in test papers with what the proctors deemed unusual similarities.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2022

Another service, Examity, uses live human proctors to watch students take tests through Zoom.

From The Verge ● Feb. 16, 2022

San Antonio Independent School District offers weekly testing to every student and staff member, a commitment that requires proctors to collect nasal swabs on area campuses three days a week.

From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2021

One of the proctors interrupted them, an older woman named Roberta who often coordinated with the Placement Office.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Tryfman spent five years as president of the state Public Defenders Assn., according to her campaign website, and has proctored a high school program on civic duties and constitutional principles.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

This type of assessment has to be proctored effectively and done silently.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

Dr. Radhakrishnan, 33, was going through a similar process, proctored by his father, using the same website.

From New York Times ● May 27, 2022

We drove to a larger town in search of Wi-Fi so I could take a medical school exam proctored on Zoom.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 14, 2022

Officials also are considering unusual measures to preserve testing if high school campuses and other venues for proctored exams remain off-limits because of the pandemic.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2020

Some classes have started reintroducing proctoring - the supervision of candidates during an examination - and spoken-word tests to avoid cheating, she said.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

For more than a century, Princeton University prided itself on an honor code so revered that proctoring during exams was banned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Some of the proctoring software allows a person monitoring an exam to take control of students’ devices, which poses privacy concerns in addition to the room scans, Bill Fitzgerald, a privacy researcher, said.

From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2022

The ruling marks a victory for digital privacy advocates around the country, who have spoken loudly against the practices of online test proctoring for many years.

From The Verge ● Aug. 23, 2022

One very important college duty, the proctoring of examinations, which would seem to be an entirely legitimate function of the Student Government Association, the students themselves have not as yet been willing to assume.

From The Story of Wellesley by Florence Converse