surveillance
UK /səˈveɪ.ləns/ · US /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/ noun
Forms surveillances
- noun Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion.
- noun Continuous monitoring of disease occurrence for example.
- noun (military, espionage) Systematic observation of places and people by visual, aural, electronic, photographic or other means.
- noun (law) In criminal law, an investigation process by which police gather evidence about crimes, or suspected crime, through continued observation of persons or places.
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Oversight; watch; inspection; supervision.
Etymology [F., fr. surveiller to watch over; sur over + veiller to watch, L. vigilare. See Sur-, and Vigil.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “surveillance”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details