superstructure

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a structure, system, or set of ideas built upon an underlying foundation or basis

   The detailed legal code formed a superstructure resting on a few broad principles.

2. 2
   noun

   the part of a building above its foundation, or the part of a ship above its main deck

   The ship's steel superstructure rose several decks above the hull.

3. 3
   noun

   in Marxist theory, the political, legal, and cultural institutions understood as arising from an economic base

   The theorist argued that changes in production would eventually reshape the social superstructure.

Formed from super-, 'above,' and structure, from Latin structura, 'a fitting together or building.' The physical sense of something built above a base produced figurative uses for systems of institutions or ideas resting on deeper foundations.

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