superorganic

[ soo-per-awr-gan-ik ]

adjective

, Sociology, Anthropology.

1. of or relating to the structure of cultural elements within society conceived as independent of and superior to the individual members of society.

superorganic

/ ˌsuːpərɔːˈɡænɪk /

adjective

1. sociol (no longer widely used) relating to those aspects of a culture that are conceived as being superior to the individual members of the society

Derived Forms

• ˌsuperorˈganicism, noun
• ˌsuperorˈganicist, noun

Other Words From

• super·or·gani·cism noun
• super·or·gani·cist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of superorganic¹

super- + organic

Example Sentences

“It hasn’t any. Member states follow their own laws; when they clash the Ekumen mediates, attempts to make a legal or ethical adjustment or collation or choice. Now if the Ekumen, as an experiment in the superorganic, does eventually fail, it will have to become a peace-keeping force, develop a police, and so on. But at this point there’s no need. All the central worlds are still recovering from a disastrous era a couple of centuries ago, reviving lost skills and lost ideas, learning how to talk again....”

From Literature

Superphysical, sū-pėr-fiz′i-kal, adj. superorganic, psychical.

From Project Gutenberg

Superorganic, sū-pėr-or-gan′ik, adj. not dependent on organisation, psychical, spiritual: social.

From Project Gutenberg

For if there were a passage from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous, the more heterogeneous the products—inorganic, organic, and superorganic, as I learnt to call them—the stronger the evidence for the law.

From Project Gutenberg

There is here, it may be said, no special reference to the organic and the superorganic.

From Project Gutenberg