surveyor

American  

[ser-vey-er] / sərˈveɪ ər /

noun

• surveyors
  plural

1. a person whose occupation is surveying.

2. an overseer or supervisor.

3. Chiefly British. a person who inspects something officially for the purpose of ascertaining condition, value, etc.

4. (formerly) a U.S. customs official responsible for ascertaining the quantity and value of imported merchandise.

5. (initial capital letter) one of a series of space probes (1966–68) that analyzed lunar soil and obtained other scientific information after soft-landing on the moon.

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surveyor British  

/ sɜːˈveɪə /

noun

1. a person whose occupation is to survey land or buildings See also quantity surveyor

2. a person concerned with the official inspection of something for purposes of measurement and valuation

3. a person who carries out surveys, esp of ships ( marine surveyor ) to determine seaworthiness, etc

4. a customs official

5. archaic a supervisor

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• surveyorship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• surveyors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of surveyor

1375–1425; late Middle English surveio ( u ) r < Anglo-French surveiour; Middle French surve ( i ) our, equivalent to surve ( i )- ( see survey) + -our -or ²

Explanation

A surveyor is someone who estimates or measures the dimensions of land. Surveyors help make maps, and are important when planning new buildings. To survey is to measure the dimensions of land, including acreage and altitude. A surveyor is an engineer who measures such dimensions as a profession. The government needs surveyors to map the boundaries of zones and districts. When constructing new buildings, surveyors help determine how much land is being built on, what size the building should be, and how the altitude might influence the process. If you like math, planning, and building, you might enjoy being a surveyor.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

surveyor surveyors

"Before, we used to pass on the left; now the passage is to the right of the sandbank, and it's very, very narrow," said Daniela Cuoghi, a surveyor for Aipo.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

This is what happened in Patricia's case, according to a surveyor who inspected the roof in 2025, following a cold call from a housing company claiming to be government-backed.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

Malaysia’s palm oil exports during the April 1-30 period are estimated to have fallen 16% on month at 1,346,859 metric tons, cargo surveyor AmSpec Agri Malaysia said Thursday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

It narrates the bittersweet adventures of the titular astronomer and his surveyor sidekick who carved the boundary separating slave states from free.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

In addition to Sammy and me, Uncle was bringing his family, my friend Silly, and his friend Jedda-Boy, a local land surveyor.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata

“Quality repairs aren’t just about immediate survival — they’re about passing the long-term scrutiny of adjusters, surveyors, and insurers,” the company says.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

Few revisions are as wild or expansive as Thomas Pynchon’s epic deconstruction of the lives of the 18th-century surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who laid out the markers that would divide North and South.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

As Manchester recounted, “The artist’s eye was uncanny; next morning a team of surveyors found he had been less than six inches off the axis.”

From Salon ● May 7, 2026

That means it couldn’t deploy surveyors to the field to collect the real-time pricing data needed to help generate the inflation index.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2025

To the surveyors who shot it, all but the summit nub of Peak XV was obscured by various high escarpments in the foreground, several of which gave the illusion of being much greater in stature.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• assessor
• cartographer