superintend

Definitions

1. 1.To have or exercise the charge and oversight of; to oversee with the power of direction; to take care of with authority; to supervise; as, an officer superintends the building of a ship or the construction of a fort. The king may appoint a council, who may superintend the works of this nature. Bacon. These words in general use are the synonymous. As sometimes used, supervise implies the more general, and superintend, the more particular and constant, inspection or direction. Among architects there is a disposition to use the word supervise in the sense of a general oversight of the main points of construction with reference to the design, etc., and to employ the word superintend to signify a constant, careful attention to all the details of construction. But this technical distinction is not firmly established.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

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