/sooh'preuh seg men"tl/ , adj.
1. above, beyond, or in addition to a segment.
2. Ling. pertaining to or noting features of speech, as stress, pitch, and length, that accompany individual consonants and vowels and may extend over more than one such segmental element; pertaining to junctural and prosodic features.
n.
3. a suprasegmental feature.
[ 1940-45; SUPRA- + SEGMENTAL ]