A looking over the whole in order to measure it. A survey counts and maps; it does not read contents.
Anglo-French surveier (to look over, to oversee), from sur (over) + veoir (to see), from Latin super + videre; a survey has always meant looking over a whole to measure it, not reading what any part of it contains.
A looking over the whole in order to measure it. It counts and it maps, and it never reads the contents of what it counts.