construct state

[kon-struhkt]

noun

Grammar.

1. (in Semitic languages) the inflected form of a noun dependent on a following noun, with the combination expressing a genitive relationship, as Hebrew beth David “house of David,” where beth “house of ” is the construct form of bayit “house.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of construct state¹

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Major components of the 1994 crime bill, for example, dedicated federal money to hire local police officers, fund victims’ services and construct state prisons.

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The demands and revolts of employees also drove capitalists to construct state apparatuses that could discipline and suppress them.

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In their construct, state power reigns supreme, political competition is extinguished, civil society elbowed out, and freedoms of expression, association and belief suppressed.

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Construct′iveness, the faculty of constructing; Construct′ure.—Construct state, in Hebrew and other Semitic languages, the state of a noun depending on another noun, which in Aryan languages would be in the genitive case—e.g.

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House of God—house being in the construct state.—Bear a construction, to allow of a particular interpretation.

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