présider

to preside; to chair; to head (to be in charge of); to preside (over)

“Ils avaient, en un mot, la connaissance et le respect des deux lois qui président à toute bonne conception ornementale : l'étude approfondie du principe qui fournit le motif, et celle de la technique du métier qui devra réaliser celui-ci.” — In a word, they possessed a knowledge of—and respect for—the two laws that govern all sound ornamental design: the thorough study of the principle that yields the motif, and that of the craft technique required to execute it.

Inherited from Old French presider, borrowed from Latin praesidēre.