surveillance

/sɚˈveɪ.ləns/

//sɚˈveɪ.ləns// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"surveillance" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“surveillance” has 17 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,456. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,456
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
17
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-surveillance · surveillance · English

surveillance · rank #5,456 · 17 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,456
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH substitute

Nearest frequency peer: substitute (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “surveillance”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “surveillance” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for surveillance
PropertyValue
Headwordsurveillance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɚˈveɪ.ləns/
Letters12
Frequency rank#5,456
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “surveillance”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).surveillancelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “substitute” (#5,455), “tactics” (#5,457), “simultaneously” (#5,454). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “surveillance” is #5,456. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around surveillance (IPA /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,456 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for surveillance, with forms such as "sruveillance", "ssurveillance", and "surevillance". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French surveillance (“a watching over, overseeing, supervision”), from surveiller (“to watch, oversee”), from sur- (“over”) + veiller (“to watch”), from Middle French, from Old French veillier (“to stay awake”), from Latin vigilāre … The correct English form is surveillance, spelled S-U-R-V-E-I-L-L-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion.
  2. 2
    Continuous monitoring of disease occurrence for example.
  3. 3
    Systematic observation of places and people by visual, aural, electronic, photographic or other means.
  4. 4
    In criminal law, an investigation process by which police gather evidence about crimes, or suspected crime, through continued observation of persons or places.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how surveillance appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The surveillance program includes at least 480 LPRs that scan and record about 16.2 million vehicles per week and stores that data for two years, he wrote in the court filing.
  2. Lady Anne appeared in a week or two to have greatly recovered her appetite, and she talked much of the benefit derived from her native air, in order to gain which, she constantly drove out in Lord Rotheles's carriages, and appeared to derive comfort from her admiration of his beautiful bays; beyond this Helen could not perceive that her airings were usefu…

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French surveillance (“a watching over, overseeing, supervision”), from surveiller (“to watch, oversee”), from sur- (“over”) + veiller (“to watch”), from Middle French, from Old French veillier (“to stay awake”), from Latin vigilāre (“to be watchful”). More at vigilant.

This word in other languages

vigilancia(Español)surveillance(Français)Überwachung(Deutsch)vigilância(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sruveillance
  • ssurveillance
  • surevillance
  • surrveillance
  • surveilalnce
  • surveilance
  • surveillacne
  • surveillancce
  • surveillanec
  • surveillannce
  • surveillence
  • surveillnace
  • survelilance
  • surviellance
  • survveillance
  • suvreillance
  • usrveillance

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of surveillance - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

sruveillance2ssurveillance1surevillance2surrveillance1surveilalnce2surveilance1surveillacne2surveillancce1
Edit distance from "surveillance"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "surveillance"?
"surveillance" is spelled S-U-R-V-E-I-L-L-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/.
What does "surveillance" mean?
As a noun, "surveillance" means: Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion.
What are common misspellings of "surveillance"?
Common misspellings include "sruveillance", "ssurveillance", "surevillance", "surrveillance", "surveilalnce". The correct spelling is "surveillance".
How do you pronounce "surveillance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "surveillance" is /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "surveillance"?
Unadapted borrowing from French surveillance (“a watching over, overseeing, supervision”), from surveiller (“to watch, oversee”), from sur- (“over”) + veiller (“to watch”), from Middle French, from Old French veillier (“to stay awake”), from Latin... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "surveillance", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

corporations#5,406installation#5,508satisfaction#5,546significance#5,363

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

introducing17 variantscelebrating17 variantspreliminary17 variantsproceedings17 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list