superstructure
English edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
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.
- (sometimes figurative) All that part of a building above the basement.
- (British, railroad) 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.
Translations edit
nautical: structure above deck
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the social sphere of ideology
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French edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
superstructure f (plural superstructures)
Further reading edit
- “superstructure”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin edit
Participle edit
superstrūctūre