Supervising

How to spell supervising

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce supervising

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does supervising mean?

1. verbOverseeing and directing the work or activity of other people to make sure it is done correctly.

Supervising in a sentence

• She spent the afternoon supervising the new warehouse staff.

• A qualified lifeguard must be supervising the pool at all times.

Where does supervising come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows from the Latin supervidere, which literally meant 'to look over' or 'to oversee', combining super 'above, over' with videre 'to see'. Medieval Latin used supervisus, the past participle, for the act of overseeing work or accounts, and English took up 'supervise' in the early 1600s with the sense of inspecting and directing the labour of others. The -ing form simply turns that verb into its ongoing, participial shape. The very same videre root that gives the silent-looking 'vis' here also sits inside 'vision', 'visible', and 'evident', a useful reminder that the middle of supervising is spelled with an 's' standing for the 'see' idea, not a 'z' as the sound might suggest.

How the word is built

• super- (over, above)
• vis (from videre: to see)
• -ing (present participle suffix)