Definitions for structure
ˈstrʌk tʃərstruc·ture

Princeton's WordNet(3.67 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. structure, construction(noun)

   a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts

   "the structure consisted of a series of arches"; "she wore her hair in an amazing construction of whirls and ribbons"

2. structure(noun)

   the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts

   "artists must study the structure of the human body"; "the structure of the benzene molecule"

3. structure(noun)

   the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations

   "his lectures have no structure"

4. structure, anatomical structure, complex body part, bodily structure, body structure(noun)

   a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing

   "he has good bone structure"

5. social organization, social organisation, social structure, social system, structure(verb)

   the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships

   "the social organization of England and America is very different"; "sociologists have studied the changing structure of the family"

6. structure(verb)

   give a structure to

   "I need to structure my days"

Wiktionary(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. structure(Noun)

   A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

   The birds had built an amazing structure out of sticks and various discarded items.

2. structure(Noun)

   The underlying shape of a solid.

   He studied the structure of her face.

3. structure(Noun)

   The overall form or organization of something.

4. structure(Noun)

   A set of rules defining behaviour.

   For some, the structure of school life was oppressive.

5. structure(Noun)

   Several pieces of data treated as a unit.

   This structure contains both date and timezone information.

6. structure(Noun)

   Underwater terrain or objects (such as a dead tree or a submerged car) that tend to attract fish

   There's lots of structure to be fished along the west shore of the lake; the impoundment submerged a town there when it was built.

7. structure(Noun)

   A body, such as a political party, with a cohesive purpose or outlook.

   The South African leader went off to consult with the structures.

8. structure(Noun)

   A set along with a collection of finitary functions and relations.

9. structure(Verb)

   To give structure to; to arrange.

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Structure(noun)

   the act of building; the practice of erecting buildings; construction

   Etymology: [L. structura, from struere, structum, to arrange, build, construct; perhaps akin to E. strew: cf. F. structure. Cf. Construe, Destroy, Instrument, Obstruct.]

2. Structure(noun)

   manner of building; form; make; construction

   Etymology: [L. structura, from struere, structum, to arrange, build, construct; perhaps akin to E. strew: cf. F. structure. Cf. Construe, Destroy, Instrument, Obstruct.]

3. Structure(noun)

   arrangement of parts, of organs, or of constituent particles, in a substance or body; as, the structure of a rock or a mineral; the structure of a sentence

   Etymology: [L. structura, from struere, structum, to arrange, build, construct; perhaps akin to E. strew: cf. F. structure. Cf. Construe, Destroy, Instrument, Obstruct.]

4. Structure(noun)

   manner of organization; the arrangement of the different tissues or parts of animal and vegetable organisms; as, organic structure, or the structure of animals and plants; cellular structure

   Etymology: [L. structura, from struere, structum, to arrange, build, construct; perhaps akin to E. strew: cf. F. structure. Cf. Construe, Destroy, Instrument, Obstruct.]

5. Structure(noun)

   that which is built; a building; esp., a building of some size or magnificence; an edifice

   Etymology: [L. structura, from struere, structum, to arrange, build, construct; perhaps akin to E. strew: cf. F. structure. Cf. Construe, Destroy, Instrument, Obstruct.]

Freebase(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Structure

   Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society. From a child's verbal description of a snowflake, to the detailed scientific analysis of the properties of magnetic fields, the concept of structure is now often an essential foundation of nearly every mode of inquiry and discovery in science, philosophy, and art. In early 20th-century and earlier thought, form often plays a role comparable to that of structure in contemporary thought. The neo-Kantianism of Ernst Cassirer is sometimes regarded as a precursor of the later shift to structuralism and poststructuralism. The description of structure implicitly offers an account of what a system is made of: a configuration of items, a collection of inter-related components or services. A structure may be a hierarchy, a network featuring many-to-many links, or a lattice featuring connections between components that are neighbors in space.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Structure

   struk′tūr, n. manner of building: construction: a building, esp. one of large size: arrangement of parts or of particles in a substance: manner of organisation: an organic form.—adj. Struc′tūral, morphological.—n. Structūralisā′tion.—adv. Struc′tūrally, in a structural manner.—adjs. Struc′tured, having a certain structure; Struc′tureless.—adv. Struc′turely, in structure, by construction.—n. Struc′tūrist, one who rears structures. [L. structura—struĕre, structum, to build.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. structure

   A number of materials, mechanisms, methods to construct.

   The structure of the house was known and created with efficiency.

   Submitted by MaryC on April 22, 2020  

2. structure

   The various elements of a whole, how the elements connect and their purpose.

   The structure of the property is accurate and demonstrates excellent architectural structures.

   Submitted by MaryC on January 24, 2020  

3. structure

   To feel, know and understand intuitively what is required and how every facet connects together and how it works.

   The organisation structure was logical, rational, easy and simple.

   Submitted by MaryC on January 24, 2020  

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. structure

   Song lyrics by structure -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by structure on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'structure' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #720

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'structure' in Written Corpus Frequency: #965

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'structure' in Nouns Frequency: #211

How to pronounce structure?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say structure in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of structure in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of structure in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of structure in a Sentence

1. President Barack Obama:

   The longer that we allow the political rhetoric of late to continue, and the longer that we tacitly accept it, we create a permission structure that allows the animosity in one corner of our politics to infect our broader society, and animosity breeds animosity.

2. Al Cardenas:

   He's spent a lot of time thinking about this -- a good chunk of 2014. -- He's been traveling the country and making sure if he did this he could do it in a positive way and that he could find a structure where his message can get across, and I believe he's confident he has done that and can do that.

3. James Grover Thurber:

   With sixty staring me in the face, I have developed inflammation of the sentence structure and definite hardening of the paragraphs.

4. Frank Reda:

   We are expecting liquidity to get weaker going into 2015, so we are shifting out of some corporate exposure and moving into traditional agency MBS, that's not because we want to make a bet on mortgages, but because we want to structure the portfolio to protect it, in case there is a liquidity crunch.

5. Van Horn:

   They will have a much lower cost structure overall, which will clearly help the bottom line, nobody can predict what's going to happen, but they should be on firm footing for at least two or three years.

Images & Illustrations of structure

Popularity rank by frequency of use