🇮🇹Italian Source WordCode: IT

sovrastruttura

Pronunciation / Transliteration: so.vra.strutˈtu.ra

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Superstructure/ˈsuː.pɚˌstrʌk.tʃɚ/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
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🇮🇹 Example Sentence in Italian:

"La sovrastruttura dell'edificio è stata progettata da un architetto moderno."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A structure built on top of something else, such as the part of a building above the foundation or the upper deck of a ship.

    "The bridge's massive steel superstructure was engineered to withstand high wind loads."
  2. 2

    In Marxist theory and sociology, the ideological and legal institutions, political structures, and cultural norms that rest upon the economic foundation of a society.

    "Changes in the economic base inevitably lead to transformations in the legal and political superstructure."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Medieval Latin prefix 'super-' (above, over) combined with 'structura' (a fitting together, building), originating from 'struere' (to build). First appearing in the late 17th century, the term initially described the physical parts of a building located above the foundation, later expanding in the 19th and 20th centuries into sociological and Marxist theory to describe cultural and political institutions built upon an economic base.

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