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

Their grazing in the newly-sown meadows would "help create a more varied habitat structure", the estate said.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

The next phase includes analyzing the binding media and examining the paint layer structure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The Publicis Groupe unit today announced Tekta, a name, image and likeness business to help brands select, structure and measure partnerships with student athletes and schools.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

It feels inevitable that I’ve started to internalize its ticks, even the most infamous ones, like incessant em-dashing and overreliance on the “It’s not x but y” structure.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

She describes how hundreds of people lived together in that single structure.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day

According to the researchers, this imbalance could increase pressure inside the filtering structures and potentially contribute to continued kidney damage.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026

However, it’s understood that the property was home to eight structures, which totaled about 15,400 square feet of living space, including eight bedrooms.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

Nvidia has moved beyond earlier mechanisms for circular financing, such as making equity investments in OpenAI and other AI firms, to newer structures that make chip purchases cheaper by lowering the cost of borrowing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Disability advocates hope the Paralympics can lead to improved access to social services and structures for people with disabilities during and after the Games.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

These structures had also been reinforced with plywood, and debarked tree limbs buttressed every wall.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

At the time of the murder, he was on a structured deferred sentence for that case.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

"We should be looking at structured intervention, something that teaches responsibility," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Buffer funds, which tend to cost less than a structured note, have become popular as an aging population of baby boomers weighs the risks and rewards of investing as they near retirement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

What these apps do best is lay bare the ways in which our entire economy is structured like a betting app strung together by incentive perverts.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

The way the deal was structured they would be able to do it without putting up any significant amount of cash, and there might also be some nice tax advantages in it.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

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

The personal and the political are blended throughout the author’s life, but I wish she had found a more seamless strategy in structuring her book.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

“People who succeed aren’t constantly resisting temptation—they’re structuring their lives so temptation doesn’t show up as often.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

He was asked by liana Bouzali, Morgan Stanley’s global head of derivatives, distribution and structuring, how he would construct a hedge-fund portfolio from scratch today.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026

PIH staff has begun to focus on methods of structuring aid and loans so that in the future the sick and indigent will be the primary beneficiaries.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

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