supersolid 
supersolid (su'per-sol"id), . A magnitude of 
more than three dimensions. 
supersphenoidal (su"per-sfe-noi'da]), a. Situ- 
ated on or over (cephalad' or dorsad of) the 
sphenoid bone : as, the supersphenoidal pitui- 
tary fossa or body. 
superspiritual (su-per-spir'i-tu-al), a. Exces- 
sively spiritual; over-spiritual. 
superspirituality (su-per-spir'i-tu-al'i-ti), n. 
The quality or state of being superspiritual. 
This extreme, unreal super-spirituality is a relic of the 
old Zoroastrian doctrine of Dualism. 
<f. D. Boardman, Creative Week, p. 288. 
supersquamosal (su"per-skwa-mo'sal), n. A 
bone of the skull of ichthyosaurs, behind the 
postfrontal and postorbital. Owen. 
superstition (su-per-stish'on), n. [Early mod. 
E. superstition, supersticyoii ; < OF. (and F.) su- 
perstition = Sp. superstition = Pg. superstiq&o 
= It. superstizione, superstition, < L. supersti- 
tio(n-), excessive fear of the gods, unreasonable 
religious belief, superstition; connected with 
superstes (superstit-), standing by, being pres- 
ent (as a noun, a bystander, a witness), also 
standing over, as in triumph, also, in another 
use, surviving, remaining, < superstore, stand 
upon or over, also survive, < super, over, above, 
+ stare, stand: see state, stand. As in the case 
of religio(n-), reUigio(n-), religion (see religion), 
the exact original sense of superstitio(n-) is un- 
certain ; it is supposed to have been a ' stand- 
ing over something' in amazement or awe. The 
explanation (reflected, e. g., in the quot. from 
Lowell, below) that it means lit. 'a survival' 
(namely, of savage or barbarous beliefs gener- 
ally outgrown) is modern, and is entirely for- 
eign to Roman thought.] 1 . An ignorant or ir- 
rational fear of that which is unknown or mys- 
terious ; especially, such fear of some invisible 
existence or existences; specifically, religious 
belief or practice, or both, founded on irrational 
fear or credulity ; excessive or unreasonable re- 
ligious scruples produced by credulous fears. 
First Sail. Sir, your queen must overboard ; the sea 
works high, the wind is loud, and will not lie till the ship 
be cleared of the dead. 
Per. That 's your superstition. Shalt., Pericles, iii. 1. 60. 
It were better to have no opinion of God at all than 
such an opinion as is unworthy of Him ; for the one is 
unbelief, the other is contumely; and certainly super- 
stition is the reproach of the Deity. Bacon, Superstition. 
Where there is any religion, the devil will plant super- 
stition. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 599. 
He [Canon Kingsleyl defines superstition to be an un- 
reasoning fear of the unknown. 
Damon, Nature and the Bible, p. 216. 
A superstition, as its name imports, is something that 
has been left to stand over, like unfinished business, from 
one session of the world's witenagemot to the next. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 92. 
2. A religious belief or a system of religion re- 
garded as based on ignorance and fear; espe- 
cially, the worship of false gods, as induced by 
fear; pagan religious doctrines and practices. 
He destroyed all idolatry and clearly did extirpate all 
superstition. Latimer, Sermon of the Plough. 
Under their Druid-teachers, the heathen Britons made 
use of balls of crystal in their idle superstitions and wicked 
practices. Rock, Church of our Fathers, L 294. 
3. Hence, any false or unreasonable belief 
tenaciously held : as, popular superstitions. 
Of the political superstitions, . . . none is so universal- 
ly diffused as the notion that majorities are omnipotent. 
n. Spencer, Social Statics, p. 232. 
4f. Excessive nicety ; scrupulous exactness. 
5f. Idolatrous devotion. 
6070 
one who is bound by religious superstitions. 
Dr. H. More. 
superstitious (su-per-stish'us), a. [Formerly 
also superstitious; = F. superstitiexx = Sp. Pg. 
superstitioso = It. superstizioso, < L. supersti- 
tiosus, full of superstition, superstitious, also 
soothsaying, prophetic, ML. also extraordinary, 
ambiguous, < superstitto(n-\ superstition : see 
superstition."] 1. Believing superstitions, re- 
ligious or other; addicted to superstition; es- 
pecially, very scrupulous and rigid in religious 
observances through fear or credulity; full of 
idle fancies and scruples in regard to religion. 
Deuised by the religious persons of those dayes to abuse 
the superstitious people, and to encomber their busie 
braynes with vaine hope or vaine feare. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 218. 
2. Pertaining to, partaking of, or proceeding 
from superstition : as, superstitious rites. 
They pretend not to adore the Cross, because 'tis super- 
stitious. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 106. 
The Easterns appear to have a superstitious dislike to 
rebuilding upon the site of a former town. 
O'Donovan, Merv, xx. 
3f. Over-exact; scrupulous beyond need, as 
from credulous fear. 
Shall squeamish He my Pleasures harvest by 
Fond supersticwus coyness thus prevent? 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, i. 223. 
4f. Idolatrously devoted. 
May I not kiss you now in superstition > 
For you appear a thing that I would kneel to. 
Fletcher (and Massingert), Lovers' Progress, iii. 3. 
= Syn. 1-3. Superstition, Credulity, Fanaticism, Bigotry. 
Credulity is a general readiness to believe what one is told 
without sufficient evidence. Superstition may be the re- 
sult of credulity in regard to religious beliefs or duties or 
as to the supernatural. As compared with fanaticism it 
is a state of fears on the one side and rigorous obser- 
vances on the other, both proceeding from an oppression 
of the mind by its beliefs, while fanaticism is too highly 
wrought in its excitement for fear or for attention to de- 
tails of conduct. Fanaticism is a half-crazy substitution 
of fancies for reason, primarily in the field of religion but 
secondarily in politics, etc. Fanaticism is demonstrative 
being often ready to undertake, in obedience to Its sup- 
posed duty or call by special revelation, tasks that are 
commonly considered wicked or treated as criminal. Big- 
otry is less a matter of action : subjectively it is a blind 
refusal to entertain the idea of correctness or excellence 
in religious opinions or practices other than one's own ; 
objectively it is an attitude matching such a state of mind 
Creauhty is opposed to skepticism, superstition to irrever- 
ence, fanaticism to indifference, biootry to latitudinarian- 
ixm. See enthusiastic. 
superstitionistt (su-per-stish'on-ist), n. [< su- 
perstition + -ist.] One who 'is superstitious; 
Have I with all my full affections 
Still met the king? loved him next heaven? obey'd him? 
Been out of fondness superstitious to him ? 
Shalt., Hen. VIII., iii. 1. 131. 
Superstitious uses. See use. 
superstitiously (su-per-stish'us-li), adv. In a 
superstitious manner; with superstition. 
superstitiousness (su-per-stish'us-nes), n. The 
state or character of being superstitious; su- 
perstition. 
superstraint (su-per-stran'), v. t. To overstrain, 
or stretch unduly. [Rare.] 
In the straining of a string, the further it is strained 
the less superstraininy goeth to a note. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., 1 182. 
superstratum (su-per-stra'tum), n. ; pi. super- 
strata (-ta). [< L. superstratum, neut. of super- 
stratus, pp. of sttpersternere, spread above, < su- 
per, above, + sternere, spread : see stratum.] A 
stratum or layer above another, or resting on 
something else. 
The superstratum which will overlay us. 
Byron, Don Juan, ix. 37. 
superstruct (su-per-stnikf), v. t. [< "L.super- 
structus, pp. of siiperstrucre, build upon or over, 
< super, above, + struere, build : see structure."] 
To build or erect upon something. Jer. Taylor, 
Works (ed. 1835), II. 35. 
SUperstruction (su-per-struk'shpn), n. [< su- 
perstruct + -ion."] 1. The act of erecting or 
building upon something. 2. A superstruc- 
ture. 
My own profession hath taught me not to erect new su- 
perstructions upon an old ruin. Sir J. Denham. 
superstructivet (su-per-struk'tiv), a. [< super- 
struct + -ive.~] Built or erected on something 
else. 
Nothing but the removing his fundamental error can 
rescue him from the superstructive, be it never so gross. 
Hammond. 
superstructort (su-per-struk'tor), n. [< super- 
struct + -or 1 ."] One who builds on something 
else. 
Was Oates's narrative a foundation or a superstructure, 
or was he one of the superstructors or not? 
Roger North, Examen, p. 193. (Davits.) 
SUperstructural (su-per-struk'tur-al), a. [< su- 
perstructure + -al.~\ Of or pertaining to a su- 
perstructure. 
superstructure (su'per-struk"tur), n. [< su- 
perstruct + -are.] 1. Any structure built on 
something else ; particularly, an edifice in re- 
lation to its foundation. 
I am not for adding to the beautiful edifice of nature, nor 
for raising any whimsical superstructure upon her plans. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 98. 
2. Hence, anything erected on a foundation or 
basis. 
There is another kind of pedant, who, with all Tom Fo- 
lio's impertinencies, hath greater superstructures and em- 
bellishments of Greek and Latin. 
Addiion, Taller, No. 158. 
3. In railway engin., the sleepers, rails, and 
fastenings of a railway, in contradistinction 
to road-bed. 
SUpersubstantial (su-'per-sub-stan'sbal), a. [< 
LL. supersubstantialis, so. pants, an imperfect 
translation of Or. cmovmof, sc. aprof, bread ' suf- 
ficient for the day' or bread 'for the coming 
supervene 
day' ("daily bread"), or bread 'necessary to 
support life' (Mat. vi. 11), < L. super, upon, + 
siibstaittia (tr. Gr. oiaia), being, substance: see 
Substance, substantial.'} 1. More than substan- 
tial; beyond the domain of matter; being more 
than (material) substance: used with special 
reference to Mat. vi. 11, where the Greek imoi'- 
aiof ('daily' in the authorized version) is in the 
Vulgate supersuhstantialis. 
This is the daily bread, the heavenly supersubstantial 
bread, by which our souls are nourished to life eternal. 
Jer. Taylor, Worthy Communicant, v. 4. 
2. [Tr. Gr. iirEpoimof.] Superessential; tran- 
scending all natures, all ideas, and the distinc- 
tion of existence and non-existence, 
supersubtilized (su-per-sut'il-Izd), a. Subtil- 
ized or refined to excess. 
Wire-drawn sentiment and supersubtilized conceit. 
Lowell, Study Windows, p. 245. 
supersubtle (su-per-sut'l), a. Over-subtle; 
cunning; crafty in an excessive degree. Shak., 
Othello, i. 3. 363. 
supersubtlety (su-per-sut'1-ti), n. Excessive 
subtlety; over-nicety of discrimination. 
The supcrsubtleties of interpretation to which our Teu- 
tonic cousins, who have taught us so much, are certainly 
somewhat prone. Lowell, Don Quixote. 
supersurface (8u'per-ser"fas), n. A three- 
dimensional continuum in five-dimensional 
space. 
SUperSUSt (su-per'sus), n. In music, an unusu- 
ally high treble voice or voice-part. 
SUpertelluric (su"per-te-lu'rik), a. Situated 
above the earth and its atmosphere. 
supertemporal 1 (su-pfer-tem'po-ral), a. and n. 
I. a. Transcending time, or independent of 
time. 
II. n. That which transcends or is indepen- 
dent of time. 
Flotinus and Numenius, explaining Plato's sense, de- 
clare him to have asserted three supertemporals or eter- 
nals, good, mind or intellect, and the soul of the universe. 
Cudu'orth, Intellectual System, p. 625. 
supertemporal 2 (su-per-tem'po-ral), a. In 
anat., situated above or high up in the tem- 
poral region : specifically noting certain lateral 
cerebral gyri and sulci. 
superterrene (su"per-te-ren'), . [< LL. super- 
terrenus, above the earth, < L. super, over, + 
terra, earth: see terrene.] Being above ground 
or above the earth; superterrestrial. 
superterrestrial (su // per-te-res'tri-al), a. Sit- 
uated above the world; not of the earth, but 
superior to it; supermundane; superterrene. 
Also supraterrestrial. 
SUpertonic (su'per-ton-ik), n. In music, the 
tone in a scale next above the tonic or key- 
note; the second, as A in the scale of G. 
supcrtragical (su-per-traj'i-kal), a. Tragical 
to excess. 
SUpertripartient (su'per-tri-par'ti-ent), a. In 
the ratio of 7 to 4. 
SUpertriq.uartal (su"per-tr!-kw6r'tal), a. Same 
as supertripartient. 
supertuberation (su-per-tu-be-ra'shon), n. The 
production of young tubers, as potatoes, from 
the old ones while still growing. 
supertunic (su'per-tu-nik), n. Any garment 
worn immediately over a tunic : used loosely in 
the many cases where it is impossible to name 
more precisely garments so represented, as in 
ancient costume. 
supervacaneous! (su"per-va-ka'ne-us), a. [= 
Sp. supervacdneo = It. superracaneo, < L. super- 
vacaneus, above what is necessary, needless, 
superfluous, < super, above, + vacuus, empty, 
void: see vacuous."] Superfluous; unnecessary; 
needless ; serving no purpose. 
I held it not altogether supervacaneous to take a review 
of them. Hourell, Letters, ii. 60. 
SUpervacaneouslyt (su'per - va -ka'ne - us - li), 
adv. In a superfluous manner; needlessly. 
Imp. Diet. 
supervacaneousnesst (su'per-va-ka'ne-us- 
nes), n. Needlessness; supernuousness. Bottey. 
supervacuoust (su-per-vak'u-us), a. [< L. su- 
pervacuus, needless, superfluous, < super, over, 
+ menus, empty, void : see vacuous.'] Being 
more than is necessary ; supererogatory. 
The Pope having the key, he may dispense the super- 
vacuous duties of others (who do more than is required for 
their salvation) to sinners who have no merit of their own. 
Evelyn, True Religion, II. 265. 
supervene (su-per-ven'), r. i'. ; pret. and pp. 
supervened, ppr. supervening. [= F. surrtnir 
= Sp. supervenir, sobrevenir = Pg. sobrerir = It. 
supenenire, sopravvenire, < L. supervenire, come 
