structure

American  

[struhk-cher] / ˈstrʌk tʃər /

noun

• structures
  plural

1. mode of building, construction, or organization; arrangement of parts, elements, or constituents.

   a pyramidal structure.

   Synonyms:

   configuration, form, system

2. something built or constructed, as a building, bridge, or dam.

3. a complex system considered from the point of view of the whole rather than of any single part.

   the structure of modern science.

4. anything composed of parts arranged together in some way; an organization.

5. the relationship or organization of the component parts of a work of art or literature.

   the structure of a poem.

6. Biology. mode of organization; construction and arrangement of tissues, parts, or organs.

7. Geology.

   1. the attitude of a bed or stratum or of beds or strata of sedimentary rocks, as indicated by the dip and strike.

   2. the coarser composition of a rock, as contrasted with its texture.

8. Chemistry. the manner in which atoms in a molecule are joined to each other, especially in organic chemistry where molecular arrangement is represented by a diagram or model.

9. Sociology. social structure.

10. the pattern of organization of a language as a whole or of arrangements of linguistic units, as phonemes, morphemes or tagmemes, within larger units.

---

verb (used with object)

• structures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• structured,
  past participle,  past
• structuring
  present participle

1. to give a structure, organization, or arrangement to; construct or build a systematic framework for.

   to structure a curriculum so well that a novice teacher can use it.

structure British  

/ ˈstrʌktʃə /

noun

1. a complex construction or entity

2. the arrangement and interrelationship of parts in a construction, such as a building

3. the manner of construction or organization

   the structure of society

4. biology morphology; form

5. chem the arrangement of atoms in a molecule of a chemical compound

   the structure of benzene

6. geology the way in which a mineral, rock, rock mass or stratum, etc, is made up of its component parts

7. rare the act of constructing

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verb

1. (tr) to impart a structure to

Synonym Usage

See building.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interstructure
  noun
• nonstructure
  noun
• destructure
  verb (used with object)
• prestructure
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• structures
  plural

Participles

• structuring
  present
• structured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• structure
  simple
• structures
  simple
• have structured
  perfect
• has structured
  perfect
• am structuring
  progressive
• are structuring
  progressive
• is structuring
  progressive
• have been structuring
  perfect progressive
• has been structuring
  perfect progressive

Past

• structured
  simple
• had structured
  perfect
• was structuring
  progressive
• were structuring
  progressive
• had been structuring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will structure
  simple
• will have structured
  perfect
• will be structuring
  progressive
• will have been structuring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of structure

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin structūra, equivalent to struct(us) (past participle of struere “to put together”) + -ūra noun suffix; see -ure

Explanation

A structure is something of many parts that is put together. A structure can be a skyscraper, an outhouse, your body, or a sentence. Structure is from the Latin word structura which means "a fitting together, building." Although it's certainly used to describe buildings, it can do more than that. A family's structure includes the relationship of its members, your body structure can refer to how your muscles and bones fit together. Sentence structure is how a sentence is put together, including subjects, verbs, and all that stuff English teachers love to yap about. Structure is usually a noun, but it can also be a verb meaning to impose order, like if you "structure an argument to convince your parents to let you stay out later."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

structure structures structured structuring

But the structure of the decision suggests that a majority of the justices are skeptical.

From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026

The researchers hope their proposed explanation will ultimately give students a more consistent way to understand chemical bonding while providing scientists with a stronger conceptual basis for studying molecular structure and reactivity.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

“It eased the brakes on competition and the structure within competitive swimming.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

However, he flagged that the AI boom has also changed the structure of the stock market.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

The video was about yarn structure, which probably wasn’t interesting to most people, but the knitters who subscribed to Grandma’s YouTube channel loved the nitty-gritty details.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

The possible structures appear within some scales, particularly around the neck, limbs, and along the sides of the trunk and tail.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

The fires destroyed much of Altadena and Pacific Palisades, as well as parts of Malibu, leveling more than 17,000 structures across those communities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

At such locations, fossils may retain not only bones and other hard tissues, but also delicate soft structures that are usually lost during fossilization.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Researchers have found that structures based on the shape can make light form unusual chiral patterns, pointing to new ways of exploring how geometry can influence optical behavior.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

About 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the species Homo sapiens started to form even more elaborate structures called cultures.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

At its founding in 2015, OpenAI was structured to ensure that researchers, and not investors, would have the final say on how the technology was deployed, with safety for humanity the guiding philosophy.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Sherin argues that gathering places like coffee shops, barber shops and structured activities like job training are as critical as housing for veteran well-being.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Rather than depending primarily on chemistry, the material itself is structured to provide the desired function.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

Should I encourage my mother to establish a trust or another structured arrangement for the educational expenses?

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Andean textiles were woven with great precision—elite garments could have a thread count of five hundred per inch—and structured in elaborate layers.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

I’d love to hear any practical suggestions for structuring this so that it is easy for the restaurant, seamless for the staff and customers, and doesn’t create unnecessary headaches for anyone.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

Her way of structuring assets is to move everything to the well spouse.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Chesney also talked about the structuring of his practices, specifically with having some in the morning and afternoon to expose his players to the heat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

They fired the marketing department and put John in charge of everything, structuring things to bring creativity into all aspects of the company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

But all of this intricate structuring was hidden.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• architecture
• arrangement
• complex
• construction
• design
• format
• formation
• framework
• network
• organization
• system