English Explanatory Dictionary

surveillance

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion.
  2. Continuous monitoring of disease occurrence for example.
  3. Systematic observation of places and people by visual, aural, electronic, photographic or other means.
  4. In criminal law, an investigation process by which police gather evidence about crimes, or suspected crime, through continued observation of persons or places.

Pronunciation

/sɚˈveɪ.ləns/ En-us-surveillance.ogg /səˈveɪ.ləns/ /səɾˈveː.ljəns/

Word forms

surveillance surveillances

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French surveillance (“a watching over, overseeing, supervision”), from surveiller (“to watch, oversee”), from sur- (“over”) + veiller (“to watch”), from Middle French, from Old French veillier (“to stay awake”), from Latin vigilāre (“to be watchful”). More at vigilant.

Related words

surveil lookout shadowing sousveillance stakeout tailing wiretapping

Derived words

antisurveillance biosurveillance countersurveillance cybersurveillance dataveillance e-surveillance geosurveillance hypersurveillance immunosurveillance mass surveillance oversurveillance re-surveillance serosurveillance superveillance surveillance approach surveillance camera surveillance capitalism technosurveillance telesurveillance uberveillance video surveillance xenosurveillance
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