oversee

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˌoʊ.vɚˈsi/ UK /ˌəʊ.vəˈsiː/ See IPA manual

Homophones

oversea /ˈoʊvɚˌsi/

Freq #16403

Meanings

1

verb
To watch over and direct a person, group, or piece of work to make sure it is done properly.

A senior manager was appointed to oversee the entire project.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to watch over and direct a... supervise manage superintend

Word family

Forms oversawoverseeingoverseenoversees

Derived forms overseer oversight

Related forms overhear overlookoverwatch

Etymology

From Middle English overseen, ouverseen, from Old English ofersēon (“to observe, oversee; to overlook, neglect”), equivalent to over- + see.

overseen Middle English ofersēon Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# oversee

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˌoʊ.vɚˈsi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌəʊ.vəˈsiː/
**Frequency rank:** 16403

## Meanings
1. To watch over and direct a person, group, or piece of work to make sure it is done properly.

## Examples
- A senior manager was appointed to oversee the entire project.

## Derived Forms
- overseer
- oversight

## Related Forms
- overhear
- overlook
- overwatch

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: overseen
- Root: ofersēon

## Etymology
From Middle English overseen, ouverseen, from Old English ofersēon (“to observe, oversee; to overlook, neglect”), equivalent to over- + see.

## AI Etymology
Oversee is from Middle English overseen, ouverseen, from Old English ofersēon (“to observe, oversee; to overlook, neglect”), equivalent to over- + see. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern verbal form is built from the named base and affix. In present-day use, it means to watch over and direct a person, group, or piece of work to make sure it is done properly. Related forms include overhear, overlook, overwatch. Derived formations include overseer, oversight.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown