That's a Good Word: Superimposed

by Karoly Reyes, age 15

My editor recently introduced me to the word superimposed. We were going through my article on the origin of the peace symbol. She told me the semaphore positions for N and D were superimposed to create the peace sign, which originally stood for “ N uclear D isarmament.” Semaphore is a system for signaling, using hand-held flags. Then she asked me if I knew what superimposed meant. I didn’t know what it meant, but it turned out to be just the word I needed.
The word “superimposed” means to put, or to join as an addition, and is usually followed by “on” or “upon.” When one image is printed over another image so that both are seen at the same time, the images are superimposed on one another.
There are other ways you can use this word. One example is when you print paper. The words are being superimposed on the paper so both are visible.
The first time I used this good word was to describe how the elements of the peace sign were arranged. It is hard to describe in writing how a picture looks! I struggled to explain the arrangement of the peace sign, but this word succinctly captured it.

[Source: Webster’s ]