Superstructure

superstructure

1. Nautical any structure above the main deck of a ship with sides flush with the sides of the hull

2. the part of a bridge supported by the piers and abutments

3. (in Marxist theory) an edifice of interdependent agencies of the state, including legal and political institutions and ideologies, each possessing some autonomy but remaining products of the dominant mode of economic production

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superstructure [′sü·pər‚strək·chər]

(civil engineering)

The part of a structure that is raised on the foundation.

(naval architecture)

The entire structure of a ship above the main deck.

(solid-state physics)

superlattice

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superstructure

1. That part of a building or structure which is above the level of the adjoining ground or the level of the foundation.

2. Any structure built on something else, as a building on its foundation; that part of a structure which receives the live load directly.

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Superstructure 

a concept within historical materialism that signifies the totality of ideological relationships, views, and institutions in a given society. The superstructure embraces the state, the political and legal forms of consciousness, and the corresponding institutions, as well as morals, religion, philosophy, and art.