construe

[ verb kuhn-stroo; noun kon-stroo ]

/ verb kənˈstru; noun ˈkɒn stru /

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See synonyms for: construe / construed on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), con·strued, con·stru·ing.

to give the meaning or intention of; explain; interpret.

to deduce by inference or interpretation; infer: He construed her intentions from her gestures.

to translate, especially orally.

to analyze the syntax of; to rehearse the applicable grammatical rules of: to construe a sentence.

to arrange or combine (words, phrases, etc.) syntactically.

verb (used without object), con·strued, con·stru·ing.

to admit of grammatical analysis or interpretation.

noun

the act of construing.

something that is construed.

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Origin of construe

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English construen, from Latin construere “to put together, build,” equivalent to con- con- + struere “to pile up, arrange,” perhaps akin to sternere “to spread, scatter”; see strew, stratum

OTHER WORDS FROM construe

con·stru·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use construe in a sentence

Vivian Lynch felt Whitehead was wrong in construing this as an invasion-of-privacy case.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial|Ivan Solotaroff|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The known usage of trade may also be taken into account in construing the language of a policy.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman|Albert Sidney Bolles
Again there was no reply; but the horses, gratefully construing the final syllable to their own needs, came to a full stop.
A Daughter of the Vine|Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
It is getting the various possible meanings-of-the-data into such shape as to make them most useful in construing the data.
Essays in Experimental Logic|John Dewey

The intention must be clear, and courts in general are averse to construing legacies to be specific.
The Curiosities and Law of Wills|John Proffatt
I shall be contented with construing my motives in my own way.
Ormond, Volume II (of 3)|Charles Brockden Brown

British Dictionary definitions for construe

construe

/ (kənˈstruː) /

verb -strues, -struing or -strued (mainly tr)

to interpret the meaning of (something)you can construe that in different ways

(may take a clause as object) to discover by inference; deduce

to analyse the grammatical structure of; parse (esp a Latin or Greek text as a preliminary to translation)

to combine (words) syntactically

(also intr) old-fashioned to translate literally, esp aloud as an academic exercise

noun

old-fashioned something that is construed, such as a piece of translation

Derived forms of construe

construable, adjectiveconstruability, nounconstruer, noun

Word Origin for construe

C14: from Latin construere to pile up; see construct

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

construe

Origin of construe

OTHER WORDS FROM construe

Words related to construe

How to use construe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for construe

Derived forms of construe

Word Origin for construe