supervisor

A supervisor is someone who oversees and provides direction for someone or something.

More simply, a supervisor is someone who supervises. It’s most commonly used in the context of the workplace to refer to a type of manager who supervises other employees.

The adjective supervisory describes things that involve supervision. A supervisor’s role can be described as supervisory.

Supervisor can be used more specifically in the context of education to refer to a type of official or tutor or in the context of government to refer to a type of elected local official who serves on a board with other supervisors.

Example: The key to being a good supervisor is to give your employees enough space to do their jobs, instead of constantly standing over their shoulders.

The first records of the word supervisor come from the 1400s. Its base word, supervise, ultimately comes from the Medieval Latin verb supervidēre, meaning “to oversee.” In fact, the word supervise quite literally means the same thing as oversee—the prefix super- means “over” or “above,” and the Latin verb vidēre means “to see” (the English word vision is based on the same root).

Sometimes, supervisors literally watch from above—like a supervisor supervising their employees from an office above the factory floor. In most cases, though, a supervisor simply closely oversees projects and the people working on them to make sure everything is proceeding as planned and that everyone is doing what they should be. A supervisor is often considered a boss, but supervisors almost always have bosses themselves. A supervisor is often a person who used to do the same job they are supervising.

What are some other forms related to supervisor?

• supervise (verb)
• supervision (noun)
• supervisory (adjective)
• supervisorship (noun)

What are some synonyms for supervisor?

• manager
• superintendent

What are some words that share a root or word element with supervisor? 

• vision

What are some words that often get used in discussing supervisor?

• oversee
• manage
• employee
• worker
• project
• direction

Supervisor is most commonly used in the context of the workplace.

When my boss from my previous job calls to check on me 🥰She is honestly the best supervisor I’ve ever had. We need more Black women in leadership positions.

— KezWanja🇰🇪 (@KeziahI) June 9, 2020

"At Toyota, a worker's immediate supervisor does not have the power to hire and fire. The company will stand behind each worker as an employee, to protect him from a frivolous boss." https://t.co/acnHZCpG07

— Jason Yip (@jchyip) June 6, 2020

On Tuesday, Los Angeles County is expected to release the results of its 2019 homeless point-in-time count at the Board of Supervisors meeting.

Here are some fast facts to help you understand what you will see. https://t.co/j1uMKDsGWD

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 4, 2019

Which of the following things should a person NOT do if they’re a supervisor?

A. watch over
B. provide guidance
C. keep an eye on things
D. ignore the situation