Wordwyrt

overseer

/ˈəʊvəˈsiə/OH-vur-SEE-ur
/ˈoʊvɚˈsiɚ/OH-vur-SEE-ur

Meaningone who oversees

Common meaning: a supervisor

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishofersēon‘look down on’source
  2. Middle Englishouersen‘observe’source
  3. Englishoversee‘supervise’
  4. Englishformed in English from overseeoverseer‘a supervisor’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from oversee + -er.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), OVERSEE, p.411 · scan

Source words

  • ofersēon Old English · source word “look down on”

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