superintend
/ˌsuːpəɹɪnˈtɛnd/
"superintend" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“superintend” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To oversee the work of others; to supervise.
Corpus desk
Index EN-superintend · superintend · English
superintend · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | superintend |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌsuːpəɹɪnˈtɛnd/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “superintend” in English
Rare enough to double-check
superintend is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌsuːpəɹɪnˈtɛnd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for superintend in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ecclesiastical Latin superintendō. The correct English form is superintend, spelled S-U-P-E-R-I-N-T-E-N-D.
Definition
- 1To oversee the work of others; to supervise.
- 2To administer the affairs of something or someone.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how superintend appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Lady Marchmont had superintended her toilette, and it was the very triumph of exquisite taste; every thing about it seemed as fragile and delicate as herself.
The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.[…]Their example was followed by others at a time when the master of Mohair was superintending in person the docking of some two-year-olds, and equally invisible.
Etymology
From Ecclesiastical Latin superintendō.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.