surveillancen.
/səˈveɪləns/, /səˈveɪln̩s/, /səːˈveɪləns/, /səːˈveɪln̩s/, /səˈveɪ(j)əns/, U.S. /sərˈveɪləns/ a. Watch or guard kept over a person, etc., esp. over a suspected person, a prisoner, or the like; often, spying, supervision; less commonly, supervision for the purpose of direction or control, superintendence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > vigilance > keeping watch > [noun] > surveillance
markingc1443
watch1611
observation1776
surveillance1802
surveilling1966
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > procedures used in spying > [noun] > surveillance
surveillance1802
1799 Monthly Rev. 30 578 Vast depôts of..property..in the rooms belonging to the office of the committee of Surveillance.]
1802 J. G. Lemaistre Rough Sketch Mod. Paris xxix. 236 They are kept under the constant ‘surveillance of the police.’ [Note Surveillance, Watch, or special care.]
1815 J. W. Croker in L. J. Jennings Croker Papers (1884) I. 67 General Becker—the officer who was charged with the surveillance of Buonaparte.
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. I. 149 A tour under the surveillance of a tutor.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. i. 17 Not to allow parole or permission to leave the fortress, even under surveillance.
1853 H. N. Humphreys Coin Coll. Man. (1876) xxii. 301 The copper [coinage] remained under the surveillance of the Senate.
1882 J. C. Morison Macaulay i. 6 No Puritanic surveillance directed his choice of books.
1884 Manch. Examiner 2 May 4/7 He says that Portugal will carry out the provisions of the Treaty under the surveillance of England.
b. attributive, esp. of devices, vessels, etc., used in military or police surveillance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments for observing > [adjective] > for watching or guarding
surveillance1947
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > procedures used in spying > [adjective]
surveillance1947
1947 Aviation Feb. 83/3 It recommended that surveillance radar be developed as an adjunct to airport traffic control... Surveillance radar could be used by control tower personnel to..locate planes [etc.].
1958 Times 24 July 9/6 New methods of detection by surveillance drones, airborne and ground radar, [etc.].
1960 Signal Mar. 41/1 BMEWS will have a long-range surveillance radar system which reportedly will detect ICBM's as they rise over the horizon at distances of several thousand miles.
1966 M. Woodhouse Tree Frog viii. 63 The Americans are putting up about one new surveillance satellite every fifteen days or so.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 9/6 The USS Pueblo, the electronic surveillance ship seized by North Korea.
1975 D. Pitts Target Manhattan (1976) ii. 262 He switched on the surveillance cameras and looked at the street.
1976 Honolulu Star-Bull. 21 Dec. b–6/1 He was on a surveillance team which saw Scanlan and Maiava meet with the informer on different occasions.
1980 Globe & Laurel July 199/2 Its initial appearance took E Coy—on surveillance duty—completely by surprise.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1802