| Library / English Dictionary |
SUPERINTENDENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person who directs and manages an organization
Synonyms:
overseer; superintendent
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("superintendent" is a kind of...):
supervisor (one who supervises or has charge and direction of)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "superintendent"):
ramrod (a harshly demanding overseer)
school superintendent (the superintendent of a school system)
Derivation:
superintend (watch and direct)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A caretaker for an apartment house; represents the owner as janitor and rent collector
Synonyms:
super; superintendent
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("superintendent" is a kind of...):
caretaker (a custodian who is hired to take care of something (property or a person))
Context examples:
It seems they had come in the carriage with their reverend relative, and had been conducting a rummaging scrutiny of the room upstairs, while he transacted business with the housekeeper, questioned the laundress, and lectured the superintendent.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The superintendent of Lowood (for such was this lady) having taken her seat before a pair of globes placed on one of the tables, summoned the first class round her, and commenced giving a lesson on geography; the lower classes were called by the teachers: repetitions in history, grammar, &c., went on for an hour; writing and arithmetic succeeded, and music lessons were given by Miss Temple to some of the elder girls.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Miss Temple, through all changes, had thus far continued superintendent of the seminary: to her instruction I owed the best part of my acquirements; her friendship and society had been my continual solace; she had stood me in the stead of mother, governess, and, latterly, companion.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
This I learned from her benefactress; from the pious and charitable lady who adopted her in her orphan state, reared her as her own daughter, and whose kindness, whose generosity the unhappy girl repaid by an ingratitude so bad, so dreadful, that at last her excellent patroness was obliged to separate her from her own young ones, fearful lest her vicious example should contaminate their purity: she has sent her here to be healed, even as the Jews of old sent their diseased to the troubled pool of Bethesda; and, teachers, superintendent, I beg of you not to allow the waters to stagnate round her.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Having sought and obtained an audience of the superintendent during the noontide recreation, I told her I had a prospect of getting a new situation where the salary would be double what I now received (for at Lowood I only got 15 pounds per annum); and requested she would break the matter for me to Mr. Brocklehurst, or some of the committee, and ascertain whether they would permit me to mention them as references.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
