superintendent

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˌsjuːpəɹɪnˈtɛndənt/ See IPA manual

Freq #6429

Meanings

1

noun
A person who is in charge of supervising, directing, or managing something.

The superintendent oversees all the schools in the district.
2

noun
A person who manages an apartment building and keeps it in good repair.

The superintendent fixed the broken lock the same day.
3

noun
A senior police officer, ranking above chief inspector.

The case was handed to a police superintendent.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is in charge... overseer

2 noun · a person who manages an... super

More chief comptroller controller foreman head manager supervisor

Word family

Forms superintendents

Derived forms spsuperintendential

Related forms superintend superintendency

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

school superintendent
an official responsible for overseeing a school system

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Superintendent, recorded from the mid-16th century, comes from Latin superintendere, meaning “to oversee.” The verb is related to Latin intendere, literally “to stretch toward” and also “to direct.”

Etymology

From Ecclesiastical Latin superintendens, a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos); thence being distantly related to English bishop.

superintendens la-ecc ἐπίσκοπος Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# superintendent

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌsjuːpəɹɪnˈtɛndənt/
**Frequency rank:** 6429

## Meanings
1. A person who is in charge of supervising, directing, or managing something.
2. A person who manages an apartment building and keeps it in good repair.
3. A senior police officer, ranking above chief inspector.

## Examples
- The superintendent oversees all the schools in the district.
- The superintendent fixed the broken lock the same day.
- The case was handed to a police superintendent.

## Synonyms
- chief
- comptroller
- controller
- foreman
- head
- manager
- overseer
- supervisor

## Derived Forms
- sp
- superintendential

## Related Forms
- superintend
- superintendency

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: superintendens
- Root: ἐπίσκοπος

## Etymology
From Ecclesiastical Latin superintendens, a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos); thence being distantly related to English bishop.

## AI Etymology
Superintendent is from Ecclesiastical Latin superintendens, a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos); thence being distantly related to English bishop. In present-day use, it can mean a person who is in charge of supervising, directing, or managing something, or a person who manages an apartment building and keeps it in good repair. Derived formations include sp, superintendential.

## Topics
- People & Society

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