ppl. a. [f. prec. + -ED1.]
1. Placed or laid upon something else; often loosely with pl. sb., laid one upon another.
1805–17. R. Jameson, Char. Min. (ed. 3), 123. They [sc. alterations of figures] are named superimposed, when they occur in the same part of the fundamental figure, and when the first alteration is modified by a second.
1832. Gell, Pompeiana, I. vi. 109. To bear the superimposed weight.
1834–5. J. Phillips, Geol., in Encycl. Metrop. (1845), VI. 703/1. Basaltic pillars, if permitted to assume their natural shapes, without pressing one against another, would resemble a number of superimposed spheroids.
1849. Ruskin, Seven Lamps, v. § 13. 148. The curious variations in the adjustments of the superimposed shafts.
1879. H. George, Progr. & Pov., V. i. (1881), 252. Imagine a pyramid composed of superimposed layers.
b. Phys. Geog. Applied to ‘a natural system of drainage that has been established on underlying rocks independently of their structure’ (Funk’s Stand. Dict., 1895).
1898. I. C. Russell, River Developm., vii. 244 (heading), Superimposed streams. Ibid., 245. A drainage system inherited in this manner by one geological terrane from another is said to be superimposed.
2. fig. Superadded; caused to co-exist.
1850. Denison, Clock & Watch-m., 104. A secondary or superimposed notion to the hands.
1891. T. Hardy, Tess, xlvi. His heated face, which had also a superimposed flush of excitement.
3. Placed over another in rank.
1861. Pearson, Early & Mid. Ages Eng., 90. The strong Norman yoke and the superimposed Norman nobility crushed Angle and Dane and Saxon into Englishmen.
