construction English · revision 3176

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 14th century|origins=la struere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kənˈstrʌk.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|construccioun]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|frm|construction]],^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[la|constructiō|t=a putting together, a building]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) a noun of action from constructus, the past participle of [[m|la|construere|t=to pile up together, build]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from com- “together” and [[m|la|struere|t=to pile up]].^(Etymonline) Etymonline takes struere to [[ine-pro|*streu-]], an extended form of the root *stere- “to spread”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of construing, the way of understanding the arrangement of words when translating: late 14th century;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) this sense, which goes with [[construe]], is now obsolete.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the construing of words came “the interpreting of a text” in the late 15th century and the explanation of the words of a legal document,^(Etymonline) a sense still alive in parliamentary language (“what construction do you put on this clause?”).^(Etymonline) The sense “act of building or making” is from the early 15th century,^(Etymonline) and the OED's earliest example of it is dated 1432–50.^(OED 1989) In geometry, the drawing of a figure to solve a problem is from 1570.^(OED 1989) The way in which a thing is built is from 1707,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a thing constructed, a structure, from 1796.^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) gave first “the act of building” and then “the form of building; structure”.^(Johnson 1755) Modern dictionaries add the building industry as a whole, and in art a sculpture put together from separate pieces of different materials.^(MW Collegiate)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 14th century – the construing of words.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1432–50 – the act of building or framing.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 15th century – interpretation of a text.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570 – a geometrical construction.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1707 – manner in which a thing is built.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1796 – a structure.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or process of [[build|alt=building]] something.^(AHD)^(NODE 1998)

+ # The building industry: ''work in construction''.^(MW Collegiate)^(NODE 1998)

+ # The way in which something is built: ''of brick construction''.^(NODE 1998)^(OED 1989)

+ # A [[structure]] or other built thing.^(AHD)^(NODE 1998)

+ # ''(grammar)'' The arrangement of words in a [[sentence]]; a group of words so arranged.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An [[interpretation]] or explanation given to a statement or text.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(art)'' A work assembled from various materials.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[constructional]]

+ * [[constructionally]]

+ * [[preconstruction]]

+ * [[constructionist]]

+ * [[deconstruction]]

+ * [[misconstruction]]

+ * [[reconstruction]]

+ * [[construction paper]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[construct]]

+ * [[construe]]

+ * [[structure]]

+ * [[destruction]]

+ * [[instruct]]

+ * [[obstruct]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}