Dictionary Definition
survey
Noun
1 a detailed critical inspection [syn: study]
3 the act of looking or seeing or observing; "he
tried to get a better view of it"; "his survey of the battlefield
was limited" [syn: view,
sight]
Verb
1 consider in a comprehensive way; "He appraised
the situation carefully before acting" [syn: appraise]
2 look over in a comprehensively, inspect; "He
surveyed his new classmates"
3 keep under surveillance; "The police had been
following him for weeks but they could not prove his involvement in
the bombing" [syn: surveil, follow]
5 make a survey of; for statistical
purposes
6 plot a map of (land)
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From surveoir, surveer (French surveiller), from sur, sor, English sur + veoir, veeir, voir, videre. See sur- and vision.Pronunciation
Noun
- The act of surveying; a general view, as from above.
- "Under his proud survey the city lies." -Sir J. Denham.
- A particular view; an examination, especially an official examination, of all the parts or particulars of a thing, with a design to ascertain the condition, quantity, or quality; as, a survey of the stores of a ship; a survey of roads and bridges; a survey of buildings.
- The operation of finding the contour, dimensions, position, or other particulars of, as any part of the earth's surface, whether land or water; also, a measured plan and description of any portion of country, or of a road or line through it.
Synonyms
- sense act of surveying prospect
- sense particular view examination, retrospect
- poll, review
Translations
act of surveying
- Finnish: yleiskatsaus, yleissilmäys
- French: examiner, explorer, fouiller, rechercher, reconnaître
- Serbian: zemljomerstvo
an examination
- Finnish: tarkastus, katselmus, katsaus
operation of finding the contour, dimensions or
position as any part of the earth's surface
- Finnish: kartoitus, maanmittaus
- French: reconnaissance
See also
Verb
- To inspect, or take
a view of; to view with
attention, as from a high place; to overlook; as, to stand on a
hill, and survey the surrounding country.
- "Round he surveys and well might, where he stood, So high above." -Milton.
- To view with a scrutinizing eye; to examine.
- "With such altered looks, . . . All pale and speechless, he surveyed me round." -Dryden.
- To examine with reference to condition, situation, value, etc.; to examine and ascertain the state of; as, to survey a building in order to determine its value and exposure to loss by fire.
- To determine the form, extent, position, etc., of, as a tract of land, a coast, harbor, or the like, by means of linear and angular measurements, and the application of the principles of geometry and trigonometry; as, to survey land or a coast.
- To examine and ascertain, as the boundaries and royalties of a manor, the tenure of the tenants, and the rent and value of the same.
Derived terms
Translations
to view as from a high place
- Japanese: 見回す, 見廻す, 見渡す
to inspect; to examine
- French: inspecter
- Japanese: 見渡す
- Portuguese: inspecionar
to determine the status or value of
- Japanese: 見渡す
to determine the form or borders of
- Spanish: informe, estudio de mercado
Extensive Definition
Survey may refer to:
Geography
- Surveying, the technique and science of measuring positions and distances on Earth
- Aerial survey, a method of collecting information using aerial photography
- Cadastral survey, used to document land ownership, by the production of documents, diagrams, plats, and maps
- Dominion Land Survey, the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes
- Public Land Survey System, a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels
- Survey township, a square unit of land, six miles (~9.7 km) on a side, used by the U.S. Public Land Survey System
Statistics
- Statistical
survey, a collection of quantitative information about members
of a population
- Census, a collection of information about every member of a population
- Sampling (statistics), collecting information on only a sample of a population
- Opinion poll, an informal collection of opinions using sampling
- Quantitative marketing research, the use of surveys to collect data for marketing purposes
- Paid survey, statistical survey which rewards the participant, often used to collect information for marketing purposes
- Questionnaire, a series of questions used to gather information
- Information Technology, a collection of surveys on IT
Earth Sciences
- Geological survey, an investigation of the subsurface of the ground to create a geological map or model
- Geophysical survey, the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies
- Soil survey, the mapping of the properties and varieties of soil in a given area
- Archaeological field survey, the collection of information by archaeologists prior to excavation
- Hydrographic survey, the gathering of information about navigable waters for the purposes of safe navigation of vessels
- Cave survey, the three-dimensional mapping of underground caverns; the resulting map is also referred to as a survey
Astronomy
- Astronomical survey, imaging or mapping regions of the sky
- Durchmusterung, a German word for a systematic survey of objects or data, generally used in astronomy
- Redshift survey, an astronomical survey of a section of the sky to calculate the distance of objects from Earth
Academia
- Survey article, a scholarly publication to summarize an area of research
Organizations
- The Institut Géographique National, a French state establishment which produces and maintains geographical information for France and its territories
- The Survey of India, India's central agency in charge of mapping and surveying
- The Zoological Survey of India studies the fauna of India
- The British Geological Survey, a body which carries out geological survey and monitoring of the UK landmass
- The Ordnance Survey, national mapping agency for Great Britain
- The British Antarctic Survey, conducts scientific research in and around Antarctica for the United Kingdom
- The United States Geological Survey, government scientific research agency which studies the landscape of the United States
- The U.S. National Geodetic Survey, performs geographic surveys as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce
survey in German: Topografie
survey in Polish: Topografia
survey in Simple English: Survey
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abbreviation, abbreviature, abrege, abridgment, abstract, analysis, appraisal, appraise, appraisement, appreciate, approximation, article, assay, assemblage, assembly, assess, assessment, assize, assizement, audit, autopsy, boss, brief, calculate, calculation, calibrate, caliper, call-up, canvass, capsule, causerie, census, chaperon, check, check a parameter, check
out, check over, check up, check up on, collection, colligation, collocation, combination, command, comment upon, comparison, compend, computation, compute, con, concourse, concurrence, condensation, condensed
version, conduct a poll, confluence, conflux, congregation, conspectus, consumer
research, consumer-preference survey, contemplate, contemplation, convergence, corralling, correction, criticize, data-gathering,
deal with, descant,
determination,
dial, digest, discourse, discuss, discussion, disquisition, dissert, dissertate, dissertation, divide, domination, draft, enquiry, epitome, essay, estimate, estimation, etude, evaluate, evaluation, examination, examine, excursus, exposition, eye, eyeball inspection, eyereach, eyeshot, eyesight, fathom, feature, field of view, field of
vision, first approach, gathering, gauge, gauging, give an examination,
give the eye, give the once-over, go into, go over, graduate, handle, hard look, head, homily, horizon, ingathering, inquire into,
inquiry, inspect, inspection, instrumentation,
introductory study, inventory, investigate, investigation, junction, juxtaposition, ken, leer, leer at, limit of vision,
line of sight, look at, look into, look over, lucubration, make a survey,
measure, measurement, measuring, memoir, mensurate, mensuration, mete, meter, metric system, mobilization, monitor, monograph, morceau, muster, naked eye, note, observe, ocular inspection,
ogle, ogle at, opinion
poll, outline, outlook, outlook over, overhaul, overhauling, overlook, oversee, overview, pace, pandect, paper, paragraph, pass over, pass
under review, peer at, perlustration, perspective, perusal, peruse, piece, plumb, poll, pore, pore over, postmortem, precis, preliminary study,
prize, probe, prolegomenon, prospect, public-opinion poll,
quality control, quantification, quantify, quantization, quantize, quarterback, questionary, questionnaire, range, rate, rating, remark upon, research
paper, review, rodeo, roundup, rubric, run over, run-through,
sample, scan, scanning, scope, scope of vision, screed, scrutinize, scrutiny, set an examination,
set at, shortened version, sight, sightliness, size, size up, skeleton, sketch, sound, span, special article, step, study, superintend, surveying, syllabus, synopsis, take a long, take a
reading, take stock of, take the measure, take up, telemetering, telemetry, term paper, the
eye, theme, thesis, thumbnail sketch, topical
outline, touch upon, tract, tractate, treat, treat of, treatise, treatment, triangulate, triangulation, valuate, valuation, value, vet, vetting, view, visitation, vista, visual examination,
weigh, write
up