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superintendent

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

14 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "superintendent", 14-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "superintendent" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "superintendent" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

superintendent is aEnglishnoun. It means: A person who is authorized to supervise, direct or administer something. Pronounced /ˌsjuːpəɹɪnˈtɛndənt/. It ranks #7,505 in English word frequency.

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Key facts for superintendent
PropertyValue
Headwordsuperintendent
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌsjuːpəɹɪnˈtɛndənt/
Letters14
Frequency rank#7,505
Misspellings tracked22
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of superintendent in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for superintendent is 14 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌsjuːpəɹɪnˈtɛndənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,505 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 22 documented wrong-spelling variants for superintendent, with forms such as "spuerintendent", "ssuperintendent", and "sueprintendent". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ecclesiastical Latin superintendens, a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos); thence being distantly related to English bishop. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is superintendent, spelled S-U-P-E-R-I-N-T-E-N-D-E-N-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who is authorized to supervise, direct or administer something.
  2. 2
    A police officer rank, positioned above chief inspector, and below chief superintendent.
  3. 3
    The manager of a building, usually a communal residence, who is responsible for keeping the facilities functional and often collecting rent or similar payments, either as also the building's landlord or on behalf of same.
  4. 4
    The head of a Sunday school.
  5. 5
    In some Protestant churches, a clergyman having the oversight of the clergy of a district.
  6. 6
    A janitor.

Etymology

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

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: spuerintendent,ssuperintendent,sueprintendent,supeirntendent,superinetndent,superinntendent,superintednent,superintenddent,superintendennt,superintendentt,superintendetn,superintendnet,superintenednt,superintenndent,superintnedent,superinttendent,superitnendent,supernitendent,superrintendent,supperintendent,supreintendent,usperintendent

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for superintendent

Misspelling Variants of "superintendent"

spuerintendent14ssuperintendent15sueprintendent14supeirntendent14superinetndent14superinntendent15superintednent14superintenddent15
Misspelling Variants of "superintendent"

Frequency rank: #7,505 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "superintendent"?
"superintendent" is spelled S-U-P-E-R-I-N-T-E-N-D-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌsjuːpəɹɪnˈtɛndənt/.
What does "superintendent" mean?
As a noun, "superintendent" means: A person who is authorized to supervise, direct or administer something.
What are common misspellings of "superintendent"?
Common misspellings include "spuerintendent", "ssuperintendent", "sueprintendent", "supeirntendent", "superinetndent". The correct spelling is "superintendent".
How do you pronounce "superintendent"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "superintendent" is /ˌsjuːpəɹɪnˈtɛndənt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "superintendent"?
From Ecclesiastical Latin superintendens, a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos); thence being distantly related to English bishop. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.