superintendent [soo-per-in-ten -duh nt, soo-prin-]
Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for superintendent on Thesaurus.com a person who oversees or directs some work, enterprise, establishment, organization, district, etc.; supervisor. a person who is in charge of maintenance and repairs of an apartment house; custodian. a high-ranking police officer, especially a chief of police or an officer ranking next above an inspector. Show More
Origin of superintendent 1545–55; <
Medieval Latin superintendent- (stem of
superintendēns ), present participle of
superintendere to
superintend ; see
-ent Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for superintendent administrator ,
supervisor ,
custodian ,
chief ,
curator ,
director ,
manager ,
inspector ,
controller ,
head ,
conductor ,
caretaker ,
governor ,
boss ,
overseer ,
super ,
foreperson ,
sitter ,
zookeeper Examples from the Web for superintendent Contemporary Examples of superintendent I happened to run into the superintendent the day we got the news, and blurted out a question in an unguarded moment.
Superintendent Smith, in fact, had fielded a steady stream of complaints about him that never resulted in any direct action.
His sensitivity to this problem came out in his first sharp disagreement with his boss, VMI superintendent Francis H. Smith.
But Comey had little to say about what Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy recognizes as the core problem.
Superintendent of Schools Donald Trombley is quoted in The Ithaca Journal: “It is unbelievable hysteria.”
Historical Examples of superintendent The superintendent would have refused an interview but for one consideration.
"I suppose you want to be taken back," said the superintendent , abruptly.
That evening, the lawyer called at the house of the superintendent .
I wish my father had intrusted his money to you instead of to the superintendent .
It is the superintendent of the factory in our village—a man rich, or, at any rate, well-to-do.
British Dictionary definitions for superintendent a person who directs and manages an organization, office, etc (in Britain) a senior police officer higher in rank than an inspector but lower than a chief superintendent (in the US) the head of a police department mainly US and Canadian a caretaker, esp of a block of apartments Show More
of or relating to supervision; superintending Show More
Word Origin for superintendent C16: from Church Latin superintendens overseeing
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for superintendent n. 1550s, originally an ecclesiastical word meaning "bishop" or "minister who supervises churches within a district" (a loan-translation of Greek episkopos "overseer"), from Medieval Latin superintendentem (nominative superintendens ), from present participle of Late Latin superintendere "oversee," from Latin super "above" (see super- ) + intendere "turn one's attention, direct" (see intend ). Famously used by 16c. radical Protestants in place of bishop , which was to them tainted by Papacy.
[Martinists] studie to pull downe Bishopps, and set vp Superintendents, which is nothing else, but to raze out good Greeke, & enterline bad Latine. [Lyly, "Pappe with an Hatchet," 1589] The general sense of "a person who has charge of some business" is first recorded 1580s. Meaning "janitor, custodian" is from c.1935. Shortened form super first attested 1857, especially at first of overseers of sheep ranches in Australia.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
