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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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.
Robots currently require supervision by humans who can activate emergency stop functions, he noted, and there are not yet recognised industry-wide safety standards.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
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
In March, the Daytona Beach city auditor’s report on the fire department cited weak p-card supervision and expenses that didn’t clearly fit “core operational needs.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
They must be segregated from issuer assets, independently attested and subject to federal supervision.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
I know I’m not allowed to leave without supervision, but I can’t stop myself.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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.
