Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Supervisor |
SupervisorNoun1. One who supervises or has charge and direction of. 2. A program that controls the execution of other programs. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "supervisor" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1604. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | A programme or routine designed to control the loading, relocation and execution of other programmes or routines and to coordinate and service application programmes. Source: European Union. (references) |
Economics | The --'s function will encompass total responsibility for planning and supervising all activities of the Engineering Department. Source: European Union. (references) |
| Chef de section qui coordonne. Aucun pouvoir de décision. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Electrical Engineering | A packet switch with additional software enabling it to control user access to the network at log-in, maintain and update information on network topology and equipment or line failures, reserve the necessary resources at each node when calls are established, and collect accounting and diagnostic information from all other nodes. Source: European Union. (references) |
Labor | One who supervises workers or the work done by others. . Source: European Union. (references) |
| One who oversees or directs some work, enterprise, establishment, organization, district, etc. ; supervisor. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Occupations | Supervises and coordinates activities of personnel engaged in carrying out departmental objectives in unit of governmental agency, utilizing knowledge of agency purposes, rules, regulations, procedures, and practices: Reviews unit's work load, schedules, personnel assignments, status of on-going work, projects, and available personnel for work assignment in order to plan unit activities. Assigns specific duties to personnel, such as enforcing of agency rules and regulations or government laws and codes; conducting investigations or research; writing technical, informative, or operational reports and papers; or working on special projects, considering individual's knowledge and experience. Reviews reports, papers, and other records prepared by personnel for clarity, completeness, accuracy, and conformance with agency policies. Routes approved reports and records to superior for action. Coordinates work activities of unit with other units, sections, or agencies to prevent delays in actions required or to improve services to public. Plans and conducts, or arranges for, indoctrination and training of personnel. Approves leave requests, evaluates personnel performance, and initiates disciplinary actions. Interviews job applicants on eligibility lists and prepares individual recommendations for consideration by superior. May be designated according to agency unit supervised or purpose of unit. (references) |
| Coordinates safety traffic program and instructs truck and trailer drivers in matters pertaining to traffic and safety regulations, and care of equipment: Instructs drivers regarding company regulations, penalties for infraction of rules, or safety and conservation measures. Rides with drivers to detect errors in handling cargo or driving vehicle. Patrols highway to detect violation of company regulations by drivers and to observe condition of vehicles and road. Reroutes truck as result of unsatisfactory road conditions. Investigates accidents involving company trucks, questions witnesses and drivers to determine causes of accidents and makes adjustments in accordance with governmental regulatory agencies' and company procedures. Directs transfer of cargo from damaged truck to substitute vehicle to ensure scheduled delivery. Analyzes accident reports obtained from governmental agencies to determine driver's need for additional training. Trains supervisors in such matters as safety and conservation of equipment and driving hazards. Confers with department heads concerning such problems as accident rates and abuse of equipment, and recommends measures to improve safety records and to conserve equipment. (references) | |
Public Administration | Supervises nursing staff, attendants and cleaners, watches diets and drugs, interviews new female residents and relatives and is responsible for the physical health of the residents, keeping in touch with outside medical practitioners and ancillary workers in the health and welfare services (The Last Refuge). Source: European Union. (references) |
| One that supervises a person, a group, department, organization, or operation. . Source: European Union. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| SUPERB | English | Supervisor B | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: SupervisorSynonyms: executive program (n), supervisory program (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Director | Superintendent, supervisor, straw boss; |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Supervisor |
| English words defined with "supervisor": bell captain ♦ director of research ♦ oyabun ♦ provost marshal ♦ research director ♦ sexual harassment, slave driver, supervisor call instruction, Supravisor, Surveillant, system call. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Supervisor" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Dutch (checker, controller), German (supervisor), Portuguese (executive program, executive routine, floorwalker, master, supervising officer, supervisor, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), Spanish (superintendent, supervisor), Turkish (supervisor). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Is your supervisor around (Beverly Hills Cop; writing credit: Danilo Bach; Daniel Petrie Jr.) Agent McGinnis I'm certain you're working under a supervisor who's keeping close tabs on this case (Firefly; writing credit: John Sullivan) Supervisor Caffrey shot himself (Angel; writing credit: Letícia Dornelles) But Biff just happens to be my supervisor, and I'm afraid I'm just no good at confrontations (Back to the Future; writing credit: Robert Zemeckis; Bob Gale) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Periodicals | |
Theater & Movies | |
High Tech |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Vincent Cheramie, monitoring manager for Point Au Fer, and Eric Web, monitoring supervisor, Thibodaux, Louisiana. The view is from the west to east at the breach. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | David Burkholder, project manager, Lake Chapeau; Eric Web, monitoring supervisor all projects; and Vincent Cheramie, monitoring manager. The view is from west to east at the breach, Point Au Fer. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | Satellite Operations Control Center (SOCC) shift supervisor Jim Nichols at the TIROS-N Spacecraft Engineer's Console. Credit: NOAA in Space. |  | FAMU, Farm Management Specialist; Glyen Holmes, NRCS Outreach Coordinator; Robbie Robertson, NRCS Soil Conservation Tech.; and Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, discuss the Aucilla PL-566 project. [Slide 97CS3074]. Credit: Bob Nichols. |
 | Robbie Robertson, NRCS Soil Conservation Tech; Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor; Glyen Holmes, NRCS Outreach Coordinator, and FAMU, Farm Management Specialist, discuss the Aucilla PL-566 project. [Slide 97CS3075]. Credit: Bob Nichols. |  | African American farmers, Bill, Raymond, Riva Brown raise cotton in the Mississippi Delta. Raymond and Bill are shown here. Bill Brown (R) is a County Supervisor in Humphreys County, MS. Credit: USDA. |
 | Jim Barnett warehouse supervisor for the Montgomery County Food and Nutrition Service Center Warehouse, MD., checks fresh produce. Credit: USDA. |  | Rutgers University farm supervisor Richard DeStefano operates a ride-on water reel cranberry harvester at the Blueberry and Cranberry Research Center at Chatsworth, New Jersey. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Keith Weller.. |
 | Ken Tupper, county weed supervisor, spraying weeds on BLM land in Rodgersbury, Washington, along the Snake River. Credit: Jerry Asher. |  | Founder of the Holy Cross Nursing Sisters. She was supervisor of the eighty Holy Cross Sisters who served as military nurses during the Civil War. Credit: NAVY. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Qatar | The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture is the principal construction supervisor of the GOQ. (references) |
Egypt | Law 95 empowered the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to be an independent supervisor of the securities industry. (references) | |
Human Rights | Niger | There were no developments in the case of a prison supervisor and guard who were arrested after 29 prisoners died in 1999 at Niamey Central Prison. (references) |
Political Economy | Bosnia and Herzegovina | In the city of Brcko, which is a "self-governing neutral district," an internationally appointed supervisor with executive authority is empowered to address such issues as taxation, law enforcement, district management, and composition of the district assembly. (references) |
Political Rights | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Until new laws are issued or existing laws adapted, the supervisor retains discretion as to which laws, Federation or RS, are to apply in Brcko. (references) |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Continued political influence over the media and the use of coercive tactics by some nationalist parties, particularly the SDS and HDZ, precluded full citizen participation without intimidation, especially in Bosnian Croat areas and parts of the RS. A multiethnic local government administers the Brcko municipality as a district under the direct oversight of the Brcko supervisor. (references) | |
Women | Ecuador | Typical cases of sexual harassment reported in the press involve instances where a supervisor solicits sexual favors from an employee. (references) |
Poland | However, this provision can be invoked only when alleged sexual harassment occurs between a supervisor and an individual in a subordinate position. (references) | |
El Salvador | A former personnel officer of an autonomous government institution asserted that her supervisor had instructed her to give preference to men over women in hiring. (references) | |
Worker Rights | El Salvador | Workers in a number of plants reported verbal abuse, sexual harassment and, in several cases, being hit by a supervisor. (references) |
Sweden | An individual also has the right to halt work in dangerous situations in order to consult a supervisor or safety representative without endangering continued employment. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Supervisor" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 93.62% of the time. "Supervisor" is used about 704 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 93.62% | 659 | 9,937 |
| Noun (proper) | 6.38% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Total | 100.00% | 704 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "supervisor": material control supervisor ♦ network supervisor ♦ supervisor call instruction ♦ supervisor mode. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "supervisor": cook-supervisor. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "supervisor"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | udhëzues (director, directory, guiding, instructive, instructor, leader, manager, manual, master, runner), udhëheqës (chief, chieftain, conductor, directive, director, directory, fugleman, guide, headman, heuristic, instructor, leader, manager, managing, mentor, organizer), përgjegjës (accountable, answerable, boss, chief, corresponding, counsellor, curator, foreman, liable, manager, responsible, responsive), metodist (methodist), mbikëqyrës (chaperon, observer, overseer, Proctor, reeve, superintendent, supervising, supervisory, taskmaster, tutor), kontrollor (checker, inspector, overseer, superintendent, surveyor, tester), inspektor (inspector, superintendent), drejtues (administrator, conductor, foremost, front-bencher, governing, head, leader, leading, managerial, managing, mentor, pilot), dejtues teze. (various references) | |
Arabic | مراقب (controller, inspector, observed, observer, spotted, spy, watcher, watchman), المناظر (overseer, taskmaster, warden), المراقب (observer, overseer, spotter, superintendent, warden), المشرف (in question, overseer, superintendent). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | училищен инспектор, ръководител (administrator, boss, director, instructor, leader, manager, mastermind, pilot, principal), шеф (boss, chief, governor, patron, principal, superior), контрольор (checker, checktaker, comptroller, controller, inspector, surveyor), началник (chief, commandant, commander, head, manager, superior, warden), надзирател (conservator, gaffer, house-father, inspector, manager, overseer, peeper, prison guard, straw boss, super, superintendent, task master, warden, warder). (various references) | |
Chinese | 監督者 , 監 (firm, hard, jail, prison, solid, strong, to inspect, to supervise), 监督员. (various references) | |
Czech | vedoucí (chief, executive, guide, head, leader, leading, manager), kontrolor (auditor, checker, comptroller, controller, watchdog), dozorce (attendant, custodian, Guardian, inspector, keeper, locksman, overseer, viewer, warden). (various references) | |
Danish | supervisor (executive program, executive routine, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), styreprogram (executive function, executive program, executive routine, monitor, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), organisationsprogram (executive program, executive routine, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), operatoer ved anlaeg og apparater, operativsystem (disk operating system, executive function, executive program, executive routine, operating system, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), netsupervisor (network supervisor), netoperativsystem (network supervisor), kontorleder, familieværge. (various references) | |
Dutch | supervisor (checker, controller), supervisieprogramma's (executive program, executive routine, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), supervisieprogramma (executive program, executive routine, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), toezichtshouder (supervising officer), toezichtsambtenaar (supervising officer), toezichthoudend ambtenaar (supervising officer), promotor (promotor), netwerksupervisor (network supervisor), leidinggevende administratieve of commerciële kracht, hoofd van een groep kantoorbedienden, gezinsvoogd, directrice (directrix, matron), bureauchef, bedieningsvakman procesindustrie, baas (boss, chief, leader, master, superior). (various references) | |
Farsi | مباشر (Manager, Overseer, Steward), ناظر (Bystander, Chamberlain, Onlooker, Overseer, Proctor, Spectator, Steward, Viewer, Warden), سرپرست (Attendant, Caretaker, Headman, Overseer, Protector, Warden), برنگر. (various references) | |
Finnish | ylivalvoja (superintendent), verkonvalvontaohjain (network supervisor), valvontaohjelma (executive program, executive routine, monitor, programmed monitor, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), valvoja (invigilator), tarkastaja (auditor, comptroller, controller, government inspector, inspecting officer, inspector, superintendent). (various references) | |
French | superviseur (network supervisor, supervising producer, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine), surveillant (superintendent). (various references) | |
German | Aufsicht (charge, control, custody, oversight, person in charge, Proctor, superintendent, supervision, top view), Aufseher (attendant, caretaker, checker, conductor, controller, custodian, guard, inspector, invigilator, keeper, overman, overseer, overseers, Ranger, supervisors, warden, wardens, warder), supervisor (executive program, executive routine, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine). (various references) | |
Greek | επόπτης (inspector, linesman, overseer). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מש'יח (caretaker, curator, foreman, inspector, monitor, overseer, superintendent, tender, tutelary), מפקח (controller, inspector, keeper, superintendent, surveyor, tender), פקח (brainy, bright, clever, inspector, intelligent, overseer, prudent, sage, sharp, shrewd, smart, superintendent, warden). (various references) | |
Hungarian | témavezető, ellenőr (conductor, controller, super, superintendent, surveyor). (various references) | |
Indonesian | penyelia, pengawas (caretaker, keeper, superintendent). (various references) | |
Italian | supervisore (Executive, executive program, executive routine, supervisory program, supervisory programme, supervisory routine). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 統轄者 (controller), 統監 (supervision), 監事 (manager), 監察官 (inspector), 宰 (management, superintendence, supervision), ジョセフソン 子 (a stein, a tankard, amug, bit by bit, cardigan, dilemma, dilettante, dish with mutton and vegetables, Genghis Khan, gin, gin fizz, ginger, ginger ale, giraffe, jin, jingoism, jinx, jitterbug, job, job enlargement, job enrichment, job menu, job rotation, job title, jobhopper, jockey, jodhpurs, John, John Bull, John Travolta, Josephson device, riding breeches, suit, suitcase, super, super high decker, super Schottky diode, super size wide screen, super woofer, supercar, supercharger, supercomputer, superhighway, superimpose, superjet, supermarket, supermarket chain, supernova, super-size, supersonic, superstar, superstation, superstore, supertanker, superviser, superwoman, synthesis, vest, waistcoat, Zimbabwe, Zinjanthropus, zirconium), 主管 (management, manager, supervision). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | しゅか" (chief editor, ego, letter, management, manager, managing editor, subject, subjectivity, supervision), さいりょう (admeasure, discretion, ideal, management, measurement, superintendence, supervision, the best), か"さつか" (inspector), か"じ (arranging, Chinese characters, coordinator, executive secretary, feeling, government business, impression, kanji, manager, sense, stereotyped epithet), スーパーバイザー , とうかつしゃ (controller), とうか" (bitter cold, disregard, frost, mailing, make light of, neglect, negligence, posting, supervision, sweating while sleeping). (various references) | |
Korean | 관리자 (Warden). (various references) | |
Manx | stiureyder (conductor, controller, coxswain, director, helmsman, manipulator, navigator, pilot, regulator, steersman, superintendent), oaseir (overseer, superintendent, warden), meoir (agent of estate, bailiff, curator, custodian, ganger, keeper, manager, mayor, prefect, steward, taskmaster). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | upervisorsay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | supervisor (floorwalker, master). (various references) | |
Romanian | supraveghetor (banksman, foreman, keeper, overseer, superintendent, taskmaster), controlor (assessor, attendant, auditor, box-keeper, controller, examiner, inspector, quantity surveyor, surveyor, tester). (various references) | |
Russian | диспетчер (despatcher, dispatcher, expediter, traffic controller, traffic manager). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | starešina (disciplinarian, head, overman, provost, senior), nadzornik (driver, floor walker, floorwalker, foreman, gaffer, ganger, overlooker, overman, steward, surveyor, viewer, warden). (various references) | |
Spanish | supervisor (superintendent). (various references) | |
Swedish | uppsyningsman (caretaker, inspector, overseer, warden), övervakare (monitor, probation officer). (various references) | |
Turkish | supervisor, yönetici (administrator, boss, controller, director, executive, governor, head, headman, intendant, manager, overseer, ruler), müfettiş (examiner, inspector, investigator, overseer, superintendent, visitor), müdür (administrator, clerk, director, gaffer, governor, guv, guvnor, head, intendant, manager, provost, vice president, warden), gözetmen (observer, overseer, super), denetmen (controller, inspector, overseer, super, superintendent), danışman (adviser, advisor, consultant, consulting, counsel, counsellor, counselor, guidance conselor, guide, mentor), şef (captain, chef, chief, clerk, commander, gaffer, general, guv, guvnor, head, headman, principal, taskmaster, top dog). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | інспектор школи, наглядач (censor, gangsman, gaoler, inspector, jailer, nigger-driver, overlooker, overman, overseer, reeve, searcher, spy, superintendent, taskmaster, warden, watchdog), методист (methodist). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | người giám sát. (various references) | |
Welsh | goruchwyliwr (agent, bailiff, overseer, steward). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "supervisor": supervisors, supervisory. (additional references) | |
Words containing "supervisor": nonsupervisory. (additional references) | |
| |
"Supervisor" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: supervior, supervisior. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "supervisor" (pronounced suw"pervī'zer) |
| 3 | -ī' z er | energizer, advertiser, analyzer, appetizer, atomizer, colonizer, compromiser, equalizer, exerciser, fertilizer, franchiser, ionizer, itemizer, merchandiser, moisturizer, organizer, oxidizer, plasticizer, polarizer, popularizer, stabilizer, sterilizer, sympathizer, synthesizer, tranquilizer, womanizer. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: proviruses. | |
| Words within the letters "e-i-o-p-r-r-s-s-u-v" | |
-1 letter: previsors, superiors. | |
-2 letters: oversups, pervious, previous, previsor, prioress, provirus, reovirus, revisors, spurries, superior, surprise, uprisers, uprivers, viperous. | |
-3 letters: orrises, oversup, poisers, poseurs, pourers, poussie, pressor, prosers, prosier, prossie, provers, pursers, pursier, pussier, repours, revisor, roupier, rousers, serious, soupier, suspire, upriser, uprises, upriver, viroses, viruses. | |
-4 letters: issuer, opuses, osiers, pisser, poiser, poises, posers, poseur, posies. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-i-o-p-r-r-s-s-u-v" | |
+1 letter: supervisors, supervisory. | |
+2 letters: parvoviruses. | |
+3 letters: supervirtuosi, supervirtuoso, unprogressive. | |
+4 letters: nonsupervisory, overpersuasion, picornaviruses, protrusiveness, supervirtuosos. | |
+5 letters: overpersuasions, paramyxoviruses. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Abbreviations 14. Acronyms 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
