'survey' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'surveier' (also seen as 'surveoir'/'surveier'), where prefix 'sur-' meant 'over' and the root (from Frankish/Old French) 'veier' (ultimately from Latin 'vidēre') meant 'to see'.

'survey' changed from Old French 'surveier' and Anglo-Norman forms into Middle English as 'surveien' or 'surveyen' and eventually became the modern English word 'survey'.

Initially it meant 'to look over' or 'to oversee by looking'; over time it evolved to include 'to inspect or measure land' and 'to conduct a systematic poll or study', while retaining the core idea of looking/examining.