overseer

[ oh-ver-see-er, -seer ]

/ ˈoʊ vərˌsi ər, -ˌsɪər /

a person who oversees; supervisor; manager: the overseer of a plantation.

Origin of overseer

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at oversee, -er¹

chief, head, boss, director.

sub·o·ver·se·er, noun

"More or less," returned the overseer, without his usual pleasantry.

Stingaree |E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
On some plantations, I have heard it said, overseer after overseer was poisoned off, almost as soon as he arrived.

The Continental Monthly, Vol. IV. October, 1863, No. IV. |Various
The overseer stood with his watch in his hand, to give us just an hour; when he said, 'Rise,' we had to rise and go to work again.

Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, Late a Slave in the United States of America |Moses Grandy
And to think that we intended at one time to make Victorine a teacher, and Victor an overseer of works!

Bouvard and Pcuchet, part 2 |Gustave Flaubert

The overseer knowed all 'bout it but he et as much as anybody else and kept his mouth shut.

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States |Work Projects Administration

overseer

/ (ˈəʊvəˌsiːə) /

Also called (less commonly): overlooker a person who oversees others, esp workmen

British history short for overseer of the poor; a minor official of a parish attached to the workhouse or poorhouse