monitor
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A device similar to a television set used as to give a graphical display of the output from a computer.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mahnuhterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɑnətɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
computing
A device similar to a television set used as to give a graphical display of the output from a computer.
A device that detects and informs on the presence, quantity, etc., of something.
Someone who gives a warning so that a mistake can be avoided
Any of various large tropical carnivorous lizards of Africa and Asia and Australia; fabled to warn of crocodiles
Display produced by a device that takes signals and displays them on a television screen or a computer monitor
A monitor lizard (Varanus spp. and extinct relatives in family Varanidae).
verb
transitive
To watch over; to guard.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A device similar to a television set used as to give a graphical display of the output from a computer.
Used this way, monitor is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a computing use: it carries a fixed technical meaning inside software and systems work.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technology
- Technical/specialist writing
- Business/professional
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use monitor
- “We are monitoring the air quality.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of observing something (and sometimes keeping a record of it).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A program that observes and regulates and controls or verifies the operations of a data-processing system.
Display produced by a device that takes signals and displays them on a television screen or a computer monitor.
A program that observes and regulates and controls or verifies the operations of a data-processing system.
Any of various large tropical carnivorous lizards of Africa and Asia and Australia.
A device that displays signals on a computer screen.
An electronic monitor that monitors fetal heartbeat and the mother's uterine contractions during childbirth.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.