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superstructure

 - 4 dictionary results

su⋅per⋅struc⋅ture

  [soo-per-struhk-cher]
Use superstructure in a Sentence
–noun
1. the part of a building or construction entirely above its foundation or basement.
2. any structure built on something else.
3. the overlying framework or features of an organization, institution, or system, built or superimposed on a more fundamental base.
4. Nautical. any construction built above the main deck of a vessel as an upward continuation of the sides. Compare deckhouse.
5. the part of a bridge that rests on the piers and abutments.
6. anything based on or rising from some foundation or basis: a complex ideological superstructure based on two hypotheses.
Origin:
1635–45; super- + structure

Related forms:
su⋅per⋅struc⋅tur⋅al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To superstructure
su·per·struc·ture   (sōō'pər-strŭk'chər)   
n.  

  1. A physical or conceptual structure extended or developed from a basic form.

  2. The part of a building or other structure above the foundation.

  3. The parts of a ship's structure above the main deck.

  4. The rails, sleepers, and other parts of a railway.

  5. In Marxist theory, the ideologies or institutions of a society as distinct from the basic processes and direct social relations of material production and economics.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

superstructure 
c.1645, from super- + structure.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

superstructure su·per·struc·ture (s&oomacr;'pər-strŭk'chər)
n.
A structure above the surface.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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