überwachte

Überwachte is a German form that can function as the feminine singular attributive form of the past participle überwacht, meaning "monitored" or "supervised," as in die überwachte Anlage (the monitored facility). It can also be the simple past tense form of the verb überwachen in the first or third person singular: ich überwachte, er überwachte (I monitored; he monitored). In ordinary usage, überwachte appears mainly in phrases describing something that has undergone monitoring, surveillance, or oversight, by an authority, organization, or system. The noun form related to the process is Überwachung (surveillance, monitoring). The prefix über- conveys a sense of coverage or extension, and wachen means to watch or guard.

Common contexts include information technology (überwachte Systeme, überwachte Dateien), industry and quality control (überwachte Prozesse, überwachte Anlagen), and law or public administration (überwachte Bereiche). Examples: eine überwachte Datei (a monitored file), die überwachte Kommunikation (the monitored communication). The term carries neutral to formal connotations and may imply compliance, security, or risk management.

Etymology: it derives from the verb überwachen, formed by the prefix über- (over, across) and wachen (to watch); the past participle is überwacht, which in attributive use appears as überwachte in feminine singular or as other declined forms depending on gender and number.