GeezerVison is showing en.wiktionary.org — superstructure - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *upér English superstructure From super- + structure.
Pronunciation
Noun
superstructure (countable and uncountable, plural superstructures)
- (nautical) Any structure built above the top full deck (FM 55-501).
- Any material structure or edifice built on something else; that which is raised on a foundation or basis.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel Station: Wards Codex entry:The Wards are open-topped, with skyscrapers rising from the superstructure. Towers are sealed against vacuum, as the breathable atmosphere envelope is only maintained to a height of about seven meters. The atmosphere is contained by the centrifugal force of rotation and a "membrane" of dense, colorless sulphur hexafluoride gas, held in place by carefully managed mass effect fields.
- A very large structure (building).
2026 November 9, Josh Halliday, “‘It’s a feeling of being screwed over’: once-quiet village despairs over ‘monster’ warehouse”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:This once-quiet village is now on the frontline in a nationwide fightback against superstructures springing up everywhere from Devon to Cardiff and the Scottish Borders.
- (sometimes figurative) All that part of a building above the basement.
- (UK, rail transport) The sleepers and fastenings, in distinction from the roadbed.
- (Marxism) The social sphere of ideology which includes religion, art, politics, law and all traditional values.
- Antonyms: base, infrastructure, substructure
1995, Richard Appignanesi, Chris Garratt, Postmodernism for Beginners, Icon Books, →ISBN, page 9:The superstructure evolves more slowly and is more resistant to change than the economic infrastructure, especially in the modern industrial age of advanced capitalism.
Derived terms
Translations
nautical: structure above deck the social sphere of ideology French
Pronunciation
Noun
superstructure f (plural superstructures)
- superstructure
Further reading
Latin
Participle
superstrūctūre
- vocative masculine singular of superstrūctūrus
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