overseer

overseer

English

Etymology

oversee +‎ -er

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvəˌsiːə(ɹ)/
• 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: Miller, Orton and Mulligan:

        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

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) Irish: feighlí m, maor m Italian: ispettore (it), capoccia m, supervisore m, organizzatore (it) m, curatore (it) m Latin: curator (la) m, curatrix f; praefectus; praepositus 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