English
supervise
Supervise comes from Latin super ‘[of place] above’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘over’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upér‘over’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*super‘above’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuper‘[of place] above’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500supervisus
- Englishearliest quotation 1590supervise
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upér‘over’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*super‘above’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuper‘[of place] above’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500supervisus
- Englishearliest quotation 1590supervise
Earliest quotation: 1590, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost: “Let me supervise the canzonet.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘over’
through Proto-Italic *super ‘above’
supreme, summary, consummate, supra, summa, 15 more
through Latin super ‘[of place] above’
Today it means
verb To oversee or direct (a task or organization).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *upér / supervise