constructiveadj.
/kənˈstrʌktɪv/ 1.
a. Having the quality of constructing; given to construction. Also spec. of immaterial objects, ideas, etc.: having the quality of contributing helpfully (esp. opposed to destructive).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intellect > [adjective] > given to constructing
constructive1841
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > [adjective]
imaginativec1405
inventivec1450
feigning1483
creativea1513
inventative1541
inventious1591
conceitful1594
forgetive1600
productive1612
projecting1614
excogitous1646
plastic1662
ingeniary1664
formful1730
forgeful1751
inventful1797
original-minded1797
original1803
originative1811
vivid1814
fingent1837
constructive1841
right-brained1871
poietic1905
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > [adjective] > auxiliary or subsidiary > contributing helpfully
constructive1841
positive1916
1841 R. W. Emerson Intellect in Ess. 1st Ser. (London ed.) 337 The constructive intellect produces thoughts, sentences, poems, plans, designs, systems.
1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sketches II. iii. vii. 345 Cyril was a clear-headed, constructive theologian.
1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. II. viii. 514 We look in vain..for any signs of administrative or constructive talent.
1943 H. Read Educ. through Art i. 9 Constructive education.
1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Apr. 145/1 The poor ones are those who like their job, not for its constructive, but for its destructive, qualities.
1955 Times 9 May 10/3 It would not be a passive condition, but ‘eminently constructive’.
1962 in Ann. Reg. 1962 (1963) 528 The United States government will be prepared to discuss these questions urgently, and in a constructive spirit, at Geneva or elsewhere.
1965 New Statesman 19 Mar. 425/2 The New Statesman..has a duty to subject the government to a continuous process of constructive criticism.
b. constructive dilemma n. (Logic): a dilemma that has alternative affirmations in its minor premiss (opposed to destructive adj. d); esp., the form of argument by which from two conditional propositions and the alternation of their antecedents one infers the alternation of their consequents (see quot. 1953).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [noun] > types of logical argument > dilemma > types, variants, or elements of
pike1548
crocodilite1624
trilemma1672
crocodile1728
constructive dilemma1826
polylemmaa1856
tetralemmaa1856
1826 R. Whately Elements Logic ii. iii. Suppl. §5. 114 (margin) Simple constructive Dilemma.
1906 J. N. Keynes Stud. & Exerc. Formal Logic (ed. 4) iii. vi. 365 Taking the simple constructive dilemma given above, and contrapositing the major.
1953 I. M. Copi Introd. Logic viii. 243 An argument form such as that of the Constructive Dilemma, (p⊃q).(r⊃s), p∨r ∴ q∨s.
2. Of or pertaining to construction.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [adjective]
architectonical1608
architective1611
tectonic1656
architectonic1678
edificial1794
structural1801
constructive1817
constructional1870
1817 Let. in Coleridge Biog. Lit. I. xiii. 293 I look forward anxiously to your great book on the constructive philosophy.
1877 S. J. Owen in Marquess Wellesley Select. Despatches Introd. p. xxix There was no hope of any constructive, wise, and beneficent political development from such a quarter.
1889 Whitaker's Almanack 214 Naval Service..Constructive and Engineering Staff.
3.
a. Belonging to the construction or structure of a building, etc.; structural, constructional.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [adjective]
structural1831
constructional1859
constructive1865
1865 J. Fergusson Hist. Archit. I. Introd. ii. viii. 25 Architectural ornament is of two kinds, constructive and decorative. By the former is meant all those contrivances, such as capitals, brackets, vaulting shafts, and the like, which serve to explain or give expression to the construction.
1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Parish Churches 212 Design should be based upon constructive exigencies.
b. constructive metabolism n. = anabolism n.
4.
a. Deduced by construction or interpretation; resulting from a certain interpretation; not directly expressed, but inferred; inferential, virtual; often applied in legal language to what in the eye of the law amounts to the act or condition specified.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > jurisprudence > [adjective] > by inference or presumption
semblable1627
constructivea1680
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > interpretation > particular interpretation, construction > [adjective]
interpretable1649
construable1657
well-constructed1657
constructivea1680
constructional1737
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 282 Will an implicit constructive Acknowledgment bind those, whom solemn Oaths and Vows to Almighty God cannot hold?
1681 Arraignm.,Tryal & Condemnation S. Colledge 51 A seizing of the King..is a constructive intention of the death of the King; for Kings are never Prisoners, but in order to their death.
a1852 D. Webster Wks. (1877) IV. 107 The power of control and direction..is derived, by those who maintain it, from the right of removal: that is to say, it is a constructive power: it has an express warrant in the Constitution.
1865 J. Lubbock Prehist. Times (1878) iv. 165 Thus the customs of a tribe may..forbid marriage with one set of constructive sisters or brothers.
b. Hence constructive blasphemy, constructive contempt, constructive injury, constructive notice, constructive possession, constructive treason, constructive trust, etc. constructive total loss (in Marine Insurance): the assumption of the loss of a ship or cargo as total under certain circumstances, as when arrival or recovery seems highly improbable, or the cost of the repairs promises to exceed the value, the owner abandoning to the insurers all claim to the ship and receiving the amount insured.
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a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 526 It was not possible to make it look even like a constructive treason.
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. 75 The creatures of tyrannical princes had opportunity to create abundance of constructive treasons; that is, to raise, by forced and arbitrary constructions, offences into the crime and punishment of treason, which never were suspected to be such.
1789 C. Durnford & E. H. East Rep. Cases King's Bench III. 466 The necessity of an actual possession by the bankrupt, in contradistinction to a constructive possession by the intervention of an agent.
a1797 H. Walpole Mem. George III (1845) x. 319 It was at most constructive blasphemy.
1848 J. Arnould Law Marine Insurance II. iii. viii. 1052 A constructive total loss in insurance law is that which entitles the assured to claim the whole amount of the insurance.
1859 J. S. Mill On Liberty iv. 147 The merely contingent, or, as it may be called, constructive injury which a person causes to society, by conduct which neither violates any specific duty to the public, nor occasions perceptible hurt to any assignable individual except himself.
c. Mathematics. Of a proof: showing how an entity may in principle be constructed or arrived at in a finite number of steps, without depending on the concept of an infinite set (though the entity may belong to such a set). Of, pertaining to, or being a philosophy of mathematics that accepts only proofs of this kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > [adjective] > relating to mathematical property
simple1570
dissevered1605
periodicala1690
irreductible1753
analytical1799
analytic1800
compound1806
well-conditioned1843
one-valued1884
non-empty1905
well-behaved1912
minimax1917
irredundant1925
non-linear1930
constructive1938
extremal1939
max-min1949
meta-analytic1968
meta-analytic1978
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > [adjective] > characterized by theories of or approaches to
physico-mathematical1660
analytical1694
Bernoulli1749
analytic1761
Boolean1851
Sturmian1853
Bernoullian1876
Fermatian1887
Grassmannian1894
number-theoretic1899
Cantor1902
Cantorian1912
Tauberian1913
Thiessen1923
intuitionist1926
metamathematical1926
finitist1931
number-theoretical1936
finitistic1937
proof-theoretic1940
formalistic1941
Gödelian1942
constructivist1943
constructivistic1944
game-theoretical1946
game-theoretic1950
finitary1952
perturbation-theoretic1964
perturbation-theoretical1968
constructive1979
1938 A. Church in Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 44 224 The existence of at least a vague distinction between what I shall call the constructive and the non-constructive ordinals of the second number class, that is, between the ordinals which can in some sense be built up step by step from below and those for which this cannot be done.., is, I believe, somewhat generally recognized.
1943 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 53 41 It appears that there is a proposition provable classically for which no constructive proof is possible.
1965 S. C. Kleene & R. E. Vesley Found. Intuitionistic Math. i. 1 Modern intuitionism, founded by Brouwer, constitutes a vigorous manifestation of the constructive tendency.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought li. 1203 The definition of a prime number is constructive, for it can be applied to determine in a finite number of steps whether a number is prime. The insistence on a constructive definition applies especially to infinite sets.
1977 Sci. Amer. May 122/3 Stein's 1961 paper..extended the result to all values of k greater than 2; moreover, it did so in a constructive manner.
1979 Sci. Amer. Oct. 134/1 The belief that mathematics is invented has given rise to a controversial theory known as constructive mathematics, which maintains that to prove that a mathematical object exists it is necessary to show how the object can be constructed.
5. Of or pertaining to constructivism n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > constructivism or kineticism > [adjective]
constructive1924
constructivist1928
kinetic1957
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > period, movement, or school of art > late 19th and 20th centuries > [adjective] > constructivist or kinetic
constructive1924
constructivist1928
kinetic1957
1924 H. Carter New Theatre Soviet Russia 71 By constructive scenery Meierhold understands essential scenery adapted to the realisation of man's free acting in space, and not photography or decoration.
1924 H. Carter New Theatre Soviet Russia 72 The scenery was simple, essential and constructive.
1929 Encycl. Brit. XXII. Pl. 111 (facing 24) Expressionistic, constructive and abstract settings.
1937 N. Gabo in J. L. Martin et al. Circle i. 3 The original source from which the Constructive idea derives is Cubism.
Draft additions December 2013
constructive discharge n. Law (chiefly U.S.) = constructive dismissal n.Originally in nautical contexts.
ΚΠ
1830 S. Thompson in E. Paine Rep. Cases U.S. Circuit Court, 2nd Circuit (1856) II. 234 Nothing has taken place on the part of the captain that can be considered an absolute or constructive discharge of the seamen.
1855 S. Blatchford & F. Howland Rep. Cases U.S. District Court for Southern District N.-Y. I. 148 A discharge of the seamen by the master, or a constructive discharge by breaking up the voyage, will entitle them to demand payment of their wages.
1939 Yale Law Jrnl. 48 1266 Cases in which the employer's actions are interpreted as constituting a constructive discharge, forcing the employee to quit.
2007 D. J. Walsh Employm. Law for Human Resource Pract. (ed. 2) ix. 259 Suders had stated a claim of constructive discharge due to the hostile work environment.
constructive dismissal n. Law termination of employment that is legally interpreted as dismissal; spec. termination that occurs when the behaviour of the employer (e.g. by creating intolerable working conditions or breaching contract) is such that the employee feels compelled to resign; (also) an instance of this.The usual term in the United States is constructive discharge.
ΚΠ
1887 Sc. Law Rev. & Sheriff Court Rep. 3 176 The appointment by the Court of a receiver and manager of the business of a company operates as a discharge of the servants and officers of the company; and if the latter incur loss through such constructive dismissal, they are entitled to damages and salary in lieu of notice.
1978 Mod. Law Rev. 41 584 For there to be a constructive dismissal there must be a present or anticipatory breach of contract by the employer.
2013 Sun (Nexis) 7 Apr. 35 He says he was forced to resign due to his boss's sexual demands and is claiming constructive dismissal.
Draft additions March 2014
constructive empiricism n. Philosophy (in philosophy of science) the theory that, although capable of being strictly true or false, scientific theories aim only to describe observable phenomena adequately, and that acceptance of a scientific theory involves believing that it is adequate in this way, not that it is true.The theory was originally proposed and developed by the Canadian philosopher, Bas van Fraassen (b. 1941).
ΚΠ
1980 B. C. van Fraassen Sci. Image ii. 12 Science aims to give us theories which are empirically adequate; and acceptance of a theory involves as belief only that it is empirically adequate. This is the statement of the anti-realist position I advocate; I shall call it constructive empiricism.
1989 Philos. Stud. 55 65 One reason that van Fraassen's constructive empiricism has been controversial is that he explicitly equates observables with those things about which we can have justified belief, leaving beliefs about unobservables forever unjustified.
2004 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 17 Sept. (Books) 27 Baggott's section on ‘Meaning’ starts with a discussion of philosophy with the positivist or antirealist position of Bohr, together with other antirealist philosophies such as constructive empiricism, pragmatism and social constructivism.
constructive empiricist adj. and n. Philosophy (a) adj. of, relating to, or advocating constructive empiricism; (b) n. an adherent or advocate of constructive empiricism.
ΚΠ
1979 B. C. van Fraassen in W. C. Salmon Hans Reichenbach 162 In my general ‘constructive empiricist’ account of theories, to accept a theory is to believe that it is correct with respect to all observable phenomena.
1982 Proc. & Addr. Amer. Philos. Assoc. 55 459 It is..problematic for the constructive empiricist to use a theory to whose truth he is not committed in determining the extent of reasonable belief in that very theory.
1999 A. Musgrave Ess. Realism & Rationalism v. 112 Realists and constructive empiricists alike value empirical strength; they value it for different reasons, but both connect it with the central aim of science.
2007 S. Roush in H. Kincaid et al. Value-Free Sci. viii. 165 Some questions about what role social values may legitimately play in science look different..depending on whether they are viewed from a realist perspective..or from the point of view of a constructive empiricist antirealism.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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adj.a1680