deconstruction

Etymology

It is formed from English de- + construction.^[2][3][4][5] In its philosophical sense Merriam-Webster takes it from French déconstruction, formed from dé- and construction,^[6] and Etymonline dates that sense to 1973, in English translations of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida.^[7] The verb deconstruct is a back-formation from it, recorded from 1973.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Taking something to pieces: Etymonline dates this literal sense, of building and architecture, to 1865.^[7] The OED's first record of "the action of undoing the construction of a thing" is from 1882, by McCarthy in the 19th Century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the late 1860s the word was sometimes used in the United States as an ironic counterpart of Reconstruction.^[7] The general sense remained rare,^[3] and the word became current only as the name of a strategy of critical analysis associated with Derrida, first recorded in 1973 in D. B. Allison's translation of Speech and Phenomena.^[2][7] It aims to expose unquestioned assumptions and inconsistencies in philosophical and literary language.^[2][3] The derivatives deconstructionism and deconstructionist followed by 1980.^[8][3] Merriam-Webster also records a looser sense, the critical examination of something such as a theory, often to show that it is inadequate.^[6]

Timeline

• 1865 – a taking to pieces, of building and architecture.^[7] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1882.^[2]
• late 1860s – an ironic variant of Reconstruction in American politics.^[7]
• 1973 – a strategy of critical analysis associated with Jacques Derrida.^[2][7][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A method of philosophical and literary criticism, associated with Jacques Derrida, which holds that language refers only to other language and that a text undermines its own apparent meaning, so that it has many conflicting readings.^{[6][9][10][2]}
2. A critical examination of something, such as a theory or a convention, meant to show its hidden assumptions or weaknesses.^[6]
3. (rare) Taking something apart; dismantling.^[3][2]

Word family

• deconstructionism
• deconstructionist
• deconstructive

Related words

• deconstruct
• construction
• construct

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins