structure English · revision 3030

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1440|origins=la struō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈstrʌk.tʃə/, US /ˈstrʌk.tʃɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|strūctūra|t=a fitting together, adjustment; a building, mode of building]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps through [[m|fro|structure]],^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|strūctus]], past participle of [[m|la|struere|t=to pile up, build, arrange]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) related to [[m|la|struēs|t=heap]],^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*streu-]], an extended form of [[ine-pro|*stere-|t=to spread]].^(Etymonline) The verb is from the noun.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The action or process of building: about 1440 in the OED,^(OED 1989) 1440 in Barnhart, who reads it as “building materials”,^(Barnhart 1988) and the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense is obsolete.^(Etymonline) “That which is built, an edifice”, especially a large one, is from 1615, in Chapman's ''Odyssey'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and the arrangement of the parts of a whole, in anatomy and in general, from the same year,^(OED 1989) the 1610s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The manner of building is from 1650.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) It was applied to literary works and sentences from 1746,^(OED 1989) to rocks and minerals from 1813,^(OED 1989) and in linguistics ''deep structure'' and ''surface structure'' are from the 1960s.^(OED 1989) The verb is found occasionally from the late 16th century^(Etymonline) and before 1693 in the OED,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) but is rare before the 20th century.^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) ''Structural'' is from 1835.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1440 – the process of building.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1615 – a building; the arrangement of parts.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1650 – manner of building.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1693 – verb, to build into a structure.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1746 – structure of a sentence or text.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1835 – ''structural''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something made of parts put together in a particular way, such as a [[building]] or [[bridge]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The way in which the parts of a whole are arranged; makeup.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The relations between the parts of a complex whole, such as a society or an [[organization]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(biology)'' The arrangement of the [[tissue|alt=tissues]] and organs of a living thing.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give form or arrangement to.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[structureless]]

+ * [[structurelessness]]

+ * [[destructure]]

+ * [[megastructure]]

+ * [[nonstructure]]

+ * [[prestructure]]

+ * [[technostructure]]

+ * [[ultrastructure]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[infrastructure]]

+ * [[macrostructure]]

+ * [[microstructure]]

+ * [[restructure]]

+ * [[structural]]

+ * [[structuralism]]

+ * [[structured]]

+ * [[substructure]]

+ * [[superstructure]]

+ * [[unstructured]]

+ * [[construct]]

+ * [[instruct]]

+ * [[destroy]]

+ * [[obstruct]]

+ * [[industry]]

+ * [[strew]]

+ * [[construe]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}