Dictionary

supervisor en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsupɚˌvaɪzɚ/ (US)
• so͞op′ərvīz'ər (UK)
• /ˈsuːpəˌvaɪzə(ɹ)/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Attested since the 15th century C.E.; from Middle English supervisor, supervisour, supervysor, supervysour, from Latin supervīsor, from supervideō, in turn from super + videō. By surface analysis, supervise + -or.

Meanings

1. A person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group, or of other operations and activities.
   • The 1999 merger between Citibank (banking) and Travelers (insurance) created the model for megafinance and confirmed new challenges for supervisors. 2001, Wendy Dobson, Gary Hufbauer, World Capital Markets, →ISBN, page 103:
   • Near-synonyms: superintendent, manager, boss, executive, overseer
   • Thus, today, even if the objective does seem "goalish," the supervisor assumes the problem inherent in trying to "accomplish" that goal will become clear to the librarian as the action plan evolves […] 1985, Drexel Library Quarterly, volume 21, page 104:
   • I had learned a lot about supervising by observing other supervisors—the good things and the not-so-good things they did. 2012, Kathryn M. Johnson, The Insider's Guide to Supervising Government Employees:
2. A person who monitors someone to make sure they comply with rules or other requirements set for them.
   • Kashruth fraud in Brooklyn. Seems a goon squad of fake mashgichim or kosher supervisors have been making their way around the neighborhoods pulling surprise ‘inspections’ on different shops and restaurants, selling them fancy-looking certificates to put in the window […] 2013, Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge, Vintage, published 2014, page 24:
3. (US) In certain states, an elected member of the governing body for a county which is called the board of supervisors.
4. A process responsible for managing other processes.
   • The clock burst which enables the supervisor to housekeep the console input and output and to change program status is currently set to 200 ms. 1965, P. A. Crisman, The compatible time-sharing system: a programmer's guide, page 14:

Forms

Deriveds

script supervisor · supervisorship · cosupervisor · undersupervisor · hypervisor · supervisoress

Relateds

supervise · supervision · supervisory · supercargo · oversight · supervisee

Synonyms

manager · boss · superintendent · executive · overseer

Translations (123)

nn oppsynsmann (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · th หัวหน้างาน (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru надзира́тельница (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · lv uzraugs (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · got 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌴𐌹𐍃 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · fa-ira مُباشِر (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ga maor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh pretpostavljeni (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · my အမှူး (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ca supervisor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ka ზედამხედველი (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · bg ръководи́тел (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ckb چاودێر (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru суперва́йзер (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja 管理者 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh nadglednik (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ka ინსპექტორი (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · pl nadzorczyni (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sl nadzornica (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · yi אויגהאַלטער (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja 監督 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · is umsjónarmaður (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · pdt Äwasechta (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · km មេការ (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · my ဖိုမင် (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja 監察 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · cs inspektor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · cs dohližitel (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · hy վերահսկիչ (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ar نَاظِر (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru руководи́тель (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · gl supervisor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ar مُدِير (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · cs dozorce (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · it supervisore (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · fr superviseuse (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · th นายงาน (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh претпостављени (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sl nadzornik (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru надзира́тель (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh надређени (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · tr gözetmen (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · es supervisor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · de Aufseherin (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru надсмо́трщица (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · es director (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ar مُشْرِفَة (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · pl naczelniczka (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · grc ἐπίσκοπος (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · de Vorgesetzter (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja 管理人 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja 監督者 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru руководи́тельница (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · nl leidinggevende (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · mia aahkohkinkia (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ka ხელმძღვანელი (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja 主管 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · fa-ira ناظِر (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · bg надзо́рничка (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sv handledare (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · bg ръководи́телка (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · grc ἐπόπτης (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh надзорник (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · nl toezichthouder (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · hy տեսուչ (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · fr superviseur (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · cmn 主管 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh супервизор (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · cmn 管理者 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · mk надгледувач (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh supervizor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · et ülevaataja (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ko 감독자 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sq brigadier (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ka უფროსი (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · hi पर्यवेक्षक (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · my အကြပ် (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru надсмо́трщик (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ro supervizor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · cmn 監督者 /监督者 (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · pl naczelnik (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · vi người giám sát (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh надгледник (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ka მენეჯერი (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sk dozorca (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · enm surveyour (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · nb oppsynsmann (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sv förman (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · bg надзо́рник (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · de Aufseher (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · hy տնօրեն (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · fa-ira سَرْپَرَسْت (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · lt prižiūrėtojas (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · th นายใหญ่ (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · bg надзо́рница (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · fi valvoja (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sh nadzornik (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ar مُلَاحِظ (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · el επόπτης (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sk dozorkyňa (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ar مُشْرِف (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · el επιβλέπων (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja スーパバイザ (computing: a process responsible for managing other processes) · sh nadređeni (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · tl tagamasid (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru надсмо́трщик (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · fi esimies (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · mk надгледувачка (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru ма́стер (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · pt supervisor (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru нача́льник (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · my အလုပ်ကြပ် (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · sq mbikëqyrës (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · hu munkafelügyelő (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ru нача́льница (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · th ผู้ควบคุม (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · cs dozorkyně (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · pl nadzorca (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · da tilsynsførende (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ja スーパーバイザー (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · de Vorgesetzte (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ar مُرَاقِب (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.) · ka კონტროლერი (a person with the official task of overseeing the work of a person or group etc.)