supervision

American  

[soo-per-vizh-uhn] / ˌsu pərˈvɪʒ ən /

noun

• supervisions
  plural

1. the act or function of supervising; superintendence.

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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

• nonsupervision
  noun
• presupervision
  noun
• prosupervision
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• supervisions
  plural

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

supervision supervisions

"In very busy locations with intensive use it is necessary for organisational reasons to ensure supervision in order to guarantee proper use and cleanliness," Sandra Holzinger, a spokeswoman for the municipality, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Arday has admitted errors in his work but denied plagiarism, saying his autism and a lack of adequate supervision early in his academic career may have contributed to those mistakes.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Only Orthodox Christianity, under strict Ottoman supervision, survived.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Perkins, according to the detective’s testimony during the preliminary hearing, is suspected of recruiting a group of employees under his supervision into the alleged scheme.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

He saw young Porter Alexander, his chief of artillery, in personal supervision.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Xi was quoted as saying China would crack down on corrupt behaviour related to disorderly capital expansion and platform monopolies, and would strengthen supervisions.

From Reuters ● Apr. 30, 2022

His scheme was to devise his own corrective biography, ostensibly with Miller as authorized author, while behind the scenes Roth would, in effect, ghostwrite it with proddings and minute supervisions of method and means.

From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2021

Garriott said Taylor-Silva’s case motivates her to put extra effort into the difficult supervisions.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 5, 2017

That usually leaves the children with no federal supervisions once they are released to sponsors — where they are often prime recruiting targets.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 21, 2017

And while there are heads of departments who oversee the work of clerks and stenographers up to a point, almost daily conferences and supervisions are necessary in order to have the work go on satisfactorily.

From The Torch Bearer A Look Forward and Back at the Woman's Journal, the Organ of the Woman's Movement by Agnes E. Ryan

Related Words

• administration
• care
• control
• guidance
• instruction
• oversight
• surveillance