superintendent English · revision 10701

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1544|origins=la-med superintendens}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌsuː.pər.ɪnˈten.dənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|superintendēns|t=an overseer]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) the present participle of Late Latin superintendere, to oversee (see [[superintend]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from super-, above, and intendere, to turn one's attention to (see [[intend]]).^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Originally a church word, a bishop or a minister overseeing the churches of a district, ultimately a loan translation of Greek episkopos, overseer: about 1544 in Merriam-Webster, the 1550s in Etymonline.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Sixteenth-century radical Protestants used it in place of bishop, a word they thought tainted by the papacy;^(Etymonline) Lyly mocked them in 1589 for razing out good Greek and interlining bad Latin.^(Etymonline) The general sense, a person in charge of a business or institution, is recorded by the 1580s, 1588 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A police officer above an inspector is from 1832,^(OED 1989) and in American English the caretaker of a building from about 1935.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) The adjective, superintending, is from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1544 – a church overseer.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1588 – a person in charge.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1832 – a police superintendent.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1935 – a building caretaker (US).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who directs or manages an organization, institution or activity.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(UK)'' A senior [[police]] officer, above an inspector.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(US)'' The caretaker of an apartment building; a [[janitor]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(US)'' The head of a police department.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sidewalk superintendent]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[superintend]]

+ * [[superintendency]]

+ * [[intend]]

+ * [[bishop]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}