surveillance
Americannoun
-
surveillances
plural
-
a watch kept over a person, group, etc., especially over a suspect, prisoner, or the like.
The suspects were under police surveillance.
-
continuous observation of a place, person, group, or ongoing activity in order to gather information.
video cameras used for covert surveillance.
-
attentive observation, as to oversee and direct someone or something.
increased surveillance of patients with chronic liver disease.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of surveillance
1790–1800; < French, equivalent to surveill ( er ) to watch over ( sur- sur- 1 + veiller < Latin vigilāre to watch; see vigil) + -ance -ance
Explanation
Many times, a person suspected of something illegal by the authorities is placed under surveillance, meaning he or she is closely watched to see if their suspicions are well-founded. If you break down the word surveillance you get the prefix sur, from the French word for "over" and the root veiller, meaning "to watch." All of which is a roundabout way of saying that if you are under surveillance, you are being closely watched — usually by the authorities, and usually not for a good reason! Those surveillance cameras in banks and stores are put there in the hopes of both preventing crimes and recognizing criminals after a crime has been committed.
Vocabulary lists containing surveillance
John F. Kennedy's Address to the American People on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
This Week In Words: August 1–6, 2020
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Police say surveillance technology like this, including Flock cameras, is important for fighting crime.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Yet three patents filed between 2020 and 2025 have the word "surveillance" in the title.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
“It was collected as part of the National Park Service’s routine wildlife disease surveillance program, which helps monitor diseases that naturally occur in wildlife populations,” the statement read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Rights groups have long objected to Palantir's role in mass surveillance, its facial recognition tools, and its work for the US government.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
He forged a close relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, hectoring the FBI director to institute ever more intensive surveillance of Oppenheimer’s movements and telephone calls.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
And with the increased use of the Internet and so that changed the level of technical complexity of the surveillances that the FBI wanted to do.
From MSNBC ● May 30, 2019
"I have conducted surveillances for Triangle in England, in South America, Miami, California, Hong Kong, Peru, Alaska. I travel all over the world doing these surveillances and nothing really changes," Sullivan said.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2015
I am still being surveilled, but now it’s much harder to tie all those small surveillances back to me and ads don’t follow me around.
From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2015
Del Rosario said the latest Chinese activity in Scarborough Shoal was discussed at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where fresh surveillances pictures were shown.
From Reuters ● Sep. 4, 2013
The soldiers went to bed, and Keyser lay wondering for a while before he took his nap between his surveillances.
From Red Men and White by Frederic Remington
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.
