superposition

noun

su·​per·​po·​si·​tion ˌsü-pər-pə-ˈzi-shən 

plural superpositions

: the placement of one thing above or on top of another

The principle used to determine whether one sedimentary rock is older than another is very simple, and is known as the law of superposition. Here is an example: A deposit of mud laid down this year in, say, the Gulf of Mexico will rest on top of a layer that was deposited last year.

—Sheldon Judson and Marvin E. Kauffman

especially, physics : the combination of two distinct physical phenomena of the same type (such as spin or wavelength) so that they coexist as part of the same event

Schrödinger perversely suggested that until the box was opened and the outcome of the experiment observed, the particle must remain suspended in a superposition of two states: simultaneously going through both holes.

—George Johnson

In a quantum computer, however, the "transistors" remain in a superposition of 0 and 1 …

—Philip Yam

Examples of superposition in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The scientific law of superposition, proposed by Danish geologist Nicolas Steno in the seventeenth century, helped clarify that younger strata always sit atop older strata, since that’s how sediments accumulate in lake beds and seafloors and so on. —Laura Poppick, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2025

The type of testing needed to test software made for quantum computing also becomes more complicated due to superposition and entanglement. —Margarita Simonova, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

In the quantum world, subatomic particles can enter quantum states of superposition (being in multiple states simultaneously) and entanglement (when two particles become linked, no matter how far apart). —Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 June 2025

That's because quantum calculations depend on things like entanglement and each qubit being in a superposition between its two values; measurements can cause all that to collapse, producing definitive values and ending entanglement. —ArsTechnica, 20 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1656, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for superposition

• academician
• cycloaddition
• decomposition
• diagnostician
• disinhibition
• indisposition
• interposition
• juxtaposition
• mathematician
• metacognition
• metaphysician
• neurotransmission