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

---

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

"Opponents need to make a decision on how they're going to press those spaces. And by pressing those spaces, there is the potential to create a lot of unbalance in the structure."

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

"You have to sort of understand that structure in order to do it successfully. And it's just not what we do. It's not the way our brains think about stories," Joel explained.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

And there are a number of other constitutional concerns scholars have raised about the structure of H.B.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Founded in 2024, Tau began working on humanoids, or general-purpose robots with a human-like body structure, a year ago.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Kids zipped and zoomed around the playground, bouncing from swings to slides to the rope-climbing structure.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Dahlia Lithwick: So much of the work you’ve done has been rooted in this idea that our legal structures, in some ways by design, have always failed and continue to fail women and vulnerable communities.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

The US firm said earlier this year that investors had raised concerns about "ongoing opacity in shareholding structures" as well as co-ordinated trading behaviour that affected price information.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Sweet carefully transfers the delicate tissue onto a glass slide, where selected cellular structures are stained to make them easier to distinguish under a powerful microscope.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026

His intentions are not to land a joke in between the lines of these structures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

She led the guards to the other side of the stage, past the large wooden structures of the judge’s podium and the empty jury box.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Primary schools in England were told they had to use a structured form of phonics to teach young children to read.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

“Everything should be on the table as we figure out how Albertsons should be structured to better compete in the years ahead.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Because many biologically important molecules have left-handed and right-handed forms, carefully structured light could help scientists identify these differences with greater sensitivity.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

That means retailers will need to ensure their product data is structured and complete enough for an agent to understand and compare, Kim added.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

The surest way to attract structured finance business was to accept the assumptions of the structured finance industry.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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

In one direct threat, OpenAI is building a platform for connecting and structuring data that some said competes with Palantir, staffed in part by ex-Palantir employees, people familiar with the matter said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

But all of this intricate structuring was hidden.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---