preside

[pri-zahyd]

verb (used without object), pre·sid·ed, pre·sid·ing.

to occupy the place of authority or control, as in an assembly or meeting; act as president or chairperson.

to exercise management or control (usually followed by over): The lawyer presided over the estate.

Origin of preside

1605–15; < Latin praesidēre to preside over, literally, sit in front of, equivalent to prae- pre- + -sidēre, combining form of sedēre to sit¹

Related formspre·sid·er, nounun·pre·sid·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for presided

oversee, supervise, ordain, administer, govern, chair, officiate, control, head, handle, lead, manage, direct, keep, conduct, run, advise, operate

Examples from the Web for presided

Contemporary Examples of presided

His case was sent to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Salavati.
Iran’s Blogfather Walks Free After Six Years in Jail
IranWire
November 21, 2014
The judge who presided over the adoption dubbed it a “legal Twilight Zone.”
Money, Murder, and Adoption: The Wild Trial of the Polo King
Jacqui Goddard
October 28, 2014
Yes, Obama presided over the withdrawal American forces from Iraq, and announced a timetable for their pullout from Afghanistan.
Obama Is the New Dubya
Lloyd Green
June 17, 2014
He presided over the preternatural creation of 30 million new jobs—and the sharpest rise in median incomes in a generation.
No One’s Going to Challenge Hillary Clinton
Robert Shrum
May 10, 2014
In two other instances, the judges had financial ties with law firms working on cases over which they presided.
Law-Breaking Judges Took Cases That Could Make Them Even Richer
Reity O’Brien, Kytja Weir, Chris Young, Center for Public Integrity
April 28, 2014

Historical Examples of presided

They said, the gentleman who presided, was a Sir Borlase Warren, the admiral on the station.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
“Queens of Beauty” presided at these contests of knightly skill and daring.
English Villages
P. H. Ditchfield
The sixteen States over which Washington presided had swelled to eighteen.
The Nation in a Nutshell
George Makepeace Towle
There he left the affair, nor ever spoke again of Malpas and the siren who presided there.
The Sea-Hawk
Raphael Sabatini
The women who presided there did manage to fix up things once a year.
Our Young Folks, Vol 1, No. 1
Various

British Dictionary definitions for presided

preside

verb (intr)

to sit in or hold a position of authority, as over a meeting

to exercise authority; control

to occupy a position as an instrumentalisthe presided at the organ

Derived Formspresider, noun

Word Origin for preside

C17: via French from Latin praesidēre to superintend, from prae before + sedēre to sit

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for presided

preside

1610s, from French présider "preside over, govern" (15c.), from Latin praesidere "stand guard; superintend," literally "sit in front of," from prae "before" (see pre-) + sedere "to sit" (see sedentary).