The Collaborative International Dictionary
Superintend \Su`per*in*tend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Superintended; p. pr. & vb. n. Superintending.] [L. superintendere. See Super-, and Intend.] 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.
Syn: Superintend, Supervise.
Usage: 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.
Wiktionary
vb. (en-past of: superintend)
Usage examples of "superintended".
On the 3rd of August all was ready, and the prince himself superintended the breaking down of the dykes in sixteen places, while at the same time the sluices at Schiedam and Rotterdam were opened and the water began to pour over the land.
He took his father's place as overman, and diligently superintended the works of this colony of miners.
Parma himself, with all his principal officers, superintended the arrangements.
The powerful stores were in full exchange, drawing people in, easing people out, superintended by the lean Manhattan totems, these idols or rock-statues that stare straight ahead in grim but careless approval of the transactions compounded in the street beneath.