superposition
Americannoun
noun
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the act of superposing or state of being superposed
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geology the principle that in any sequence of sedimentary rocks which has not been disturbed, the oldest strata lie at the bottom and the youngest at the top
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The principle that in a group of stratified sedimentary rocks the lowest were the earliest to be deposited.
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The principle by which the description of the state of a physical system can be broken down into descriptions that are themselves possible states of the system. For example, harmonic motion, as of a violin string, can be analyzed as the sum of harmonic frequencies or harmonics, each of which is itself a kind of harmonic motion; harmonic motion is therefore a superposition of individual harmonics.
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The combination of two or more physical states, such as waves, to form a new physical state in accordance with this principle.
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See also wave See Note at Schrödinger
Etymology
Origin of superposition
Vocabulary lists containing superposition
Waves and Wave Properties - Middle School
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Earth Science - Middle School
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Geometry - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Maybe we’ve slipped into a quantum superposition where gains are both reasonable and insane simultaneously.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
I used words like qubit, superposition, Schrödinger, and cat, some of them perhaps even correctly.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
When the qubit is taken out of superposition, its value between 1 and 0—representing a probability—is captured.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
When the two overlap, their superposition transfers the information from the original photon to the far-away partner of the entangled pair.
From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2025
In every stratigraphical research the fundamental requisite is to establish the order of superposition of the strata.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
