French word

surveillance

Pronunciation

IPA/syʁvɛjɑ̃s/

Meaning

  • feminine nounmonitoring

Example

La surveillance des caméras a permis d'identifier le suspect.

Monitoring the cameras made it possible to identify the suspect.

Illustration for surveillance (monitoring)

More examples

L'employé est sous surveillance depuis la plainte.

The employee has been under surveillance since the complaint.

Core concept

Continuous monitoring that detects problems or threats while keeping a person, place, or device under watch.

Common phrases

  • sous surveillance

    under surveillance

Similar words

veille: Watching something for a set period to track what happens.
vigilance: A state of heightened alertness to detect danger or problems early.
contrôle: Checking or inspecting something to identify problems or irregularities.
supervision: Managing people or work by overseeing their progress.

Definition in French

Action de garder attentivement quelqu'un, un lieu ou une chose, souvent de façon continue, pour assurer sa sécurité ou son bon fonctionnement.

Word origin

Surveillance developed from surveiller, built from sur- 'over' and veiller 'to watch'; veiller comes from Latin vigilare 'to watch'.

Usage tips

  • Surveillance has a more formal or institutional tone than veiller sur quelqu'un, which expresses personal care or watchfulness.

Other meanings

  • supervisionnoun
  • watchnoun

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word