Monitoring

How to spell monitoring

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce monitoring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does monitoring mean?

1. verbObserving, checking, or keeping track of something over a period of time.
2. nounThe systematic process or activity of observing and recording something.

Monitoring in a sentence

• verb

  Continuous monitoring of the patient's heart rate kept the ward team alert.

• noun

  Environmental monitoring at the site continues around the clock.

• verb

  The bank uses automated monitoring to flag unusual transactions.

• noun

  The contract includes regular monitoring of water quality in the river.

Where does monitoring come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb monere, which meant 'to warn, advise, or remind'. From that verb Latin formed monitor, literally 'one who warns or reminds', a word later used for an instructor, an overseer, and even a warning device. English adopted monitor in the 1500s, and the verb sense 'to watch, check, or keep track of' grew up around the idea of a person or instrument keeping watch and giving warning. The form 'monitoring' is simply the present participle and gerund of that verb. The same monere root quietly survives in relatives such as 'admonish', 'premonition', and 'monument', all of which carry the underlying sense of warning or reminding; remembering that single root explains why the word keeps just one 't' and one 'n' rather than the doubled letters writers sometimes expect.

How the word is built

• monit- (from monere: to warn, advise)
• -or (agent: one who warns or watches)
• -ing (verb/noun suffix)