overseer

English

Etymology

From oversee +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvəˌsiːə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• oversee-er or over-seer

Noun

overseer (plural overseers)

1. One who oversees or supervises.
   1. (historical) The manager of a plantation of slaves.
      • 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC:

        It is often deemed advisable to knock a man slave down, in order to tie him, but it is considered cowardly and inexcusable, in an overseer, thus to deal with a woman.

   2. (historical) An officer responsible for the care of the poor, making out lists of voters and those who had not paid taxes, etc.
2. (obsolete) A critic.

Synonyms

• administrator
• foreman
• chief, head, head man
• controller, comptroller
• organizer
• superintendent
• supervisor
• curator

Derived terms

• overseership

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: basya
  • → Dutch: bastiaan
  • → Dutch: basya
• → Dutch: officier

Translations

one who oversees

• Azerbaijani: nəzarətçi
• Bulgarian: надзирател (bg) m (nadziratel)
• Czech: dozorce (cs) m
• Danish: opsynsmand
• Dutch: opzichter (nl) m
• Egyptian: (jmj-r)
• Finnish: työnjohtaja (fi), valvoja (fi)
• French: contremaître (fr) m, chef (fr)
• Georgian: ზედამხედველი (zedamxedveli)
• German: Aufseher (de) m, Aufseherin (de) f
• Greek: επόπτης (el) m (epóptis), εργοδηγός (el) m or f (ergodigós), επιστάτης (el) m (epistátis), επιτηρητής (el) m (epitiritís)

  Ancient: ἐπόπτης m (epóptēs), ἔφορος m (éphoros), ἐπίσκοπος m (epískopos)

• Hindi: पर्यवेक्षक (paryavekṣak)
• Irish: feighlí m, maor m
• Italian: ispettore (it), capoccia m, supervisore (it) m, organizzatore (it) m, curatore (it) m
• Latin: curator (la) m, curatrix f; praefectus; praepositus
• Macedonian: надгле́дувач m (nadgléduvač), на́дзирач m (nádzirač), на́дзорник m (nádzornik)
• Persian: سرپرست (fa) (sarparast)
• Plautdietsch: Äwasechta m
• Polish: nadzorca (pl) m
• Portuguese: feitor (pt)
• Romanian: supervizor (ro) m
• Russian: надзира́тель (ru) m (nadzirátelʹ), надзира́тельница (ru) f (nadzirátelʹnica), надсмо́трщик (ru) m (nadsmótrščik), надсмо́трщица (ru) f (nadsmótrščica)
• Spanish: capataz (es)
• Swahili: msimamizi (sw)
• Swedish: förman (sv) c