surveillance
/sɚˈveɪ.ləns/
"surveillance" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“surveillance” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,456 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,456
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | surveillance |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #5,456 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “surveillance” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for surveillance is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,456 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion.
- 2Continuous monitoring of disease occurrence for example.
- 3Systematic observation of places and people by visual, aural, electronic, photographic or other means.
- 4In criminal law, an investigation process by which police gather evidence about crimes, or suspected crime, through continued observation of persons or places.
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
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.
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"?
What does "surveillance" mean?
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What is the origin of the word "surveillance"?
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Using “surveillance”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-U-R-V-E-I-L-L-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.