supervise

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin supervisus, from supervidere, from Latin super + videre. Doublet of survey.

verb

1. (transitive) To oversee or direct a task or organization.
   Without someone to supervise them, the group will lack direction.
   Strong personal government is, I believe, the only form of government possible in Kashmir for many years to come, but it is difficult for the Maharajas to supervise the administration of the valley when they are away in their winter capital Jammu. 1895, Sir Walter Roper Lawrence, The Valley of Kashmir, page 3
   While both the Northeast and the Korean Peninsula were under the jurisdiction of Ho-pei Province, a Protectorate of An-tung was established at P'ing-jang to supervise the Peninsular states and two High Commanders were stationed at You-chou and P'ing-lu[…] 1934, Tung Chi Lin, Chinese Expansion to the Northeast: Methods and Mechanisms, University of California, →OCLC, page 37
   I had learned a lot about supervising by observing other supervisors—the good things and the not-so-good things they did. 2012, Kathryn M. Johnson, The Insider's Guide to Supervising Government Employees
2. (transitive, obsolete) To look over so as to read; to peruse.
   Let me supervise the canzonet. 1590, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, IV. ii. 120
   If any Man for that reaſon has an Inclination to divert himſelf, and Sail with me round the Globe, to ſuperviſe almoſt all the Conditions of Humane Life, without being infected with the Vanities, and Vices that attend such a Whimſical Perambulation; let him follow me, who am going to Relate it in a Stile, and Language, proper to the Variety of the Subject: For as the Caprichio came Naturally into my Pericranium, I am reſolv’d to purſue it through Thick and Thin, to enlarge my Capacity for a Man of Buſineſs. 1700, Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London, page 10