supervision

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.

Supervision comes from the Medieval Latin supervīsiōn-, meaning “oversight.” In fact, the word supervision quite literally means the same thing as oversight—the prefix super- means “over” or “above,” and vision is another word for sight.

Sometimes, people performing supervision literally watch from above—like a supervisor supervising their employees from an office above the factory floor. In most cases, though, supervision simply means overseeing closely to make sure something is proceeding as planned or that someone is doing what they should be. Some employees require more supervision than others.

Young children almost always require some level of supervision. The phrases adult supervision and parental supervision often refer to the requirement for children to be watched by a parent or other adult, especially in public spaces. For example, a museum might have a sign that says Adult supervision required. The phrase is sometimes applied humorously to situations in which adults themselves are the ones who need supervision, typically because they’re doing things that are illogical or unsafe.

Supervision should not be confused with super vision. (Superman has super vision, but Batman thinks Superman needs supervision.)

What are some other forms related to supervision?

• supervise (verb)
• nonsupervision (noun)
• presupervision (noun)
• prosupervision (adjective)

What are some synonyms for supervision?

• oversight
• direction
• superintendence

What are some words that share a root or word element with supervision? 

• supervisor
• vision
• superintendent

What are some words that often get used in discussing supervision?

• under
• adult
• constant
• parent
• child
• control
• leader
• manager
• project
• guidance
• care

Supervision is most commonly used in the context of parenting, childcare, and the workplace.

May is #NationalWaterSafetyMonth and we're bringing you the ABCs of Swim Safety. Today is M: Maintain constant adult supervision. Parents and caregivers should never leave a child alone near any body of water, including bath tubs. pic.twitter.com/YDJqj3kKEt

— FSPYMCA (@fspymca) May 13, 2020

Yeah, none of this is a break with young kids. They need constant supervision to do the work. But it might be the case for older kids. Our “break” is when school is over and the kids play.

— Cara Fitzpatrick (@Fitz_ly) May 12, 2020

Mavs teammates told ESPN that Luka Doncic was working out on the underwater treadmill under the supervision of the team’s athletic trainers at halftime. That’s an encouraging sign that his right ankle sprain isn’t severe.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 15, 2019

Which of the following things should a person NOT do if they’re supposed to be performing supervision?

A. watch over
B. provide guidance
C. keep an eye on things
D. ignore the situation