superstruct

/ˌsuːpə(ɹ)ˈstɹʌkt/

Etymology

Latin superstrūctus, past participle of superstruō (“to build upon”); super (“over”) + struō (“to build”). See super- and structure.

superstruct means to build over or upon (another structure); to erect upon (a foundation). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.

Why this word is great

SUPERSTRUCT — [Verb] To build or erect something upon an existing structure or foundation. From the Latin superstructus, past participle of superstruere, from super ("over, upon") + struere ("to build, pile up"). Unlike "superimpose," which merely layers one image over another for comparative effect, or "underpin," which concerns the hidden support below, to superstruct is the literal, physical act of vertical ambition—of making more from what is already there. It is the gabled attic added to a cottage, the spire rising from the sturdy base of an old bell tower, or the entire ideological apparatus built upon a single, unexamined premise—each new layer an optimistic argument against the flat, finished world, a testament to the human faith that what exists can bear the weight of what we wish to become.

verb

To build over or upon (another structure); to erect upon (a foundation).“This is the only proper basis on which to superstruct first innocency and then virtue.”