Nearby Words

superintendent

[soo-per-in-ten-duhnt, soo-prin-] Example Sentences Origin

su·per·in·tend·ent

[soo-per-in-ten-duhnt, soo-prin-]
noun
1.
a person who oversees or directs some work, enterprise, establishment, organization, district, etc.; supervisor.
2.
a person who is in charge of maintenance and repairs of an apartment house; custodian.
3.
a high-ranking police officer, especially a chief of police or an officer ranking next above an inspector.
adjective

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Superintendent has a plethora of syllables.
So is antidisestablishmentarianism. Does it mean:
opposition to the withdrawal of state support or recognition from an established church, esp. the Anglican Church in 19th-century England.
(used as a nonsense word by children to express approval or to represent the longest word in English.)

Origin:
1545–55; < Medieval Latin superintendent- (stem of superintendēns), present participle of superintendere to superintend; see -ent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Example Sentences
  • Our co-op requires each tenant shareholder to leave a duplicate apartment key with the building superintendent.
  • We also had a letter from a school-system superintendent expressing excitement about our proposed demonstrations.
  • Breaking this code of silence might best begin with a strong new police superintendent.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
superintendent (ˌsuːpərɪnˈtɛndənt, ˌsuːprɪn-)
 
n
1.  a person who directs and manages an organization, office, etc
2.  (in Britain) a senior police officer higher in rank than an inspector but lower than a chief superintendent
3.  (in the US) the head of a police department
4.  chiefly (US), (Canadian) a caretaker, esp of a block of apartments
 
adj
5.  of or relating to supervision; superintending
 
[C16: from Church Latin superintendens overseeing]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

superintendent
1554, originally an ecclesiastical word meaning "bishop" or "minister who supervises churches within a district" (a loan-translation of Gk. episkopos "overseer"), from M.L. superintendentem (nom. superintendens), from prp. of L.L. superintendere "oversee," from L. super "above" (see
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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 1588. Meaning "janitor, custodian" is from c.1935. Shortened form super first attested 1857, especially at first of overseers of sheep ranches in Australia.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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