monitore

Monitore is a term used in several languages with related meanings to monitor. In Italian, monitore (masculine) denotes a person who observes, supervises, or enforces rules, such as a warder, custodian, or inspector. The plural is monitori. The word also exists in Italian historical texts to describe a type of armored warship known in English as a “monitor,” though in contemporary usage the device sense is usually expressed with the borrowed word “monitor.”

Originates from Latin monitor, meaning adviser or watchdog, through subsequent Romance-language adaptations such as Italian monitore. In other languages, similar forms appear as well; German uses Monitore as the plural of Monitor, while French uses moniteur.

In technology and media, the term is associated with display devices used to present information. In contemporary Italian, the common term for a computer screen is “monitor” rather than “monitore,” but older technical writing and some contexts preserve “monitore” to refer to a watcher or supervisor in governance or security roles.

In naval history, monitors are a class of low-profile, turret-equipped warships designed for coastal defense. While the English term is standard in scholarship, Italian-language sources may render references to such ships with “monitore” in some historical texts.