monitoring

The word “monitoring” means the ongoing act of watching, checking, or tracking something to catch changes or problems. In plain terms, keeping a continuous watch on something, often to detect changes early.

“Monitoring” is pronounced MAH-niht-ihng (/ˈmɑnɪtɚɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “monitoring” used in a sentence: “Air quality monitoring showed pollution levels rising sharply.”

“Monitoring” is a noun.

“Monitoring” is a fairly common word in modern English.

Monitoring is the ongoing act of watching or checking something to catch changes or problems, while tracking usually emphasizes following the movement or progress of something over time. Monitoring often implies an intent to respond when something goes wrong.

Both involve watching, but monitoring is a neutral term for checking a system, process, or condition, such as monitoring a patient or a network. Surveillance more often implies close, sometimes secret, watching of people for security reasons.

Monitoring frequently pairs with adjectives such as "close," "continuous," "ongoing," and "remote," as in "close monitoring" or "continuous monitoring." It also appears in compounds like "self-monitoring" and "health monitoring."