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

At another factory in the city, daily shifts reached 12.5 hours, with no structure in place for taking days off.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Pacific Coast is registered in the Santa Barbara County, Calif., town of Orcutt through a corporate structure that includes a parent entity in Delaware by the same name.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

"Differences in their structure tell us about what kinds of environments a species lived in and how it fed."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

"We have a structure in place, standards and rules which have made us a success. I am really excited about the new Aston Villa," said McGinn.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 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

Solar prominences are enormous structures of glowing plasma that extend outward from the Sun's surface and are often shaped by powerful magnetic fields.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

The two companies already are carrying substantial interest costs due to their existing debt structures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

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

And it was about reforming the cultural structures that created and perpetuated those systems.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

They pack and have pack social structures like timber wolves, and hunt in packs like timber wolves.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

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

Derivative funds are similar to structured notes, financial instruments that combine a bond with an embedded derivative, which have long been sold on Wall Street.

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

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

If she had children, I would consider structuring the trust to help with things like education or a first home.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 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

Prosecutors charged Thola-Duran with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, to receive and transport stolen property interstate, and to commit money laundering, and structuring transactions to avoid federal financial reporting requirements.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 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