α. late Middle English– structure.
β. 1600s structura.
structuren.
/ˈstrʌktʃə/, U.S. /ˈstrək(t)ʃər/ I. Senses relating to the action or process of construction and to the condition or quality of being constructed.
1. † a. Perhaps: material for building. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) ix. l. 134 This doon, the sidis [of the well] make vp with structure [L. quo facto latera puteorum structura suscipiat].
b. Manner of building or construction; the way in which something, as a building, machine, implement, etc., has been made, put together, or engineered.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > manner of construction
building1590
structure1597
fabricaturec1600
1597 W. Barlow Navigator's Supply sig. G This Line being by the structure of the Instrument equidistant to the fixed Meridian of it, is vnderstood to be in the great Meridian of the world.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iii. 317 The structure of this City was beautifull and high.
1695 tr. M. Misson New Voy. Italy II. 158 The structure of the Cathedral is not much unlike to that of the Church of Siena.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 72 He can spy out the Faults in the Structure of a Boat, sooner than those of himself.
1772 T. Pennant Tours Scotl. (1774) 1 Chester; a city without parallel for the singular structure of the four principal streets, which are as if excavated out of the earth.
1826 D. Booth Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 149 There are variations in the structure of these mills—some are worked by hand, others by horse and water.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. iii. iv. 169 They..shew purchased dirks, of an improved structure, made to order.
1888 G. Gissing Let. 9 Nov. (1927) v. 235 The extraordinary structure of the town. It is built on the side of a mountain.
1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 176 In speaking of the structure of the saddle.
1941 Pop. Mech. Mar. 161 Its structure is sufficient to carry the ten-wheeled anti-aircraft guns.
2008 D. S. Hill Pests of Crops in Warmer Climates 347/1 The structure of the tunnel varies with the different genera..of beetle concerned.
c. The action, practice, or process of building or construction. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun]
bigginga1325
rearinga1325
buildingc1394
edifying1432
upbringing1484
rising?a1500
upmaking1513
upbigging1525
edification1549
erecting1553
structure1604
erection1614
compilementa1639
architecture1646
exstruction1652
built1654
edifice1663
fabric1730
upbuilding1732
builth1805
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Structure, building, setting in good order.
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. i. 48 This is yet a weake piece of Structure, because the Supporters are subiect to much impulsion.
1693 J. Dryden in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xiv. 280 His Son builds on, and never is content, Till the last Farthing is in Structure spent.
a1704 T. Brown Oration in Praise Drunkenness in Wks. (1707) I. i. 48 If we look back into the Primitive History of the first Ages,..from the very first Structure of the World, we shall find [etc.].
1726 J. Leoni Life Alberti in tr. L. B. Alberti Archit. 5 A Florentine, who had worked for him..in the structure of the Choir.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) Pref. p. v A distinct account of the progress and structure of the Edystone Lighthouse.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby III. vii. iii. 114 The scarcity of brick and stone at the period of its structure.
1897 A. J. Russell Life & Labors 323 No circumstance marred its harmony or system, save that one sad and fatal circumstance during the whole period of its structure.
1906 L. North Predecessors of Cleopatra 233 During the structure of the pyramids..Queen Nofritari Minimut..must have witnessed much suffering.
2. The existing arrangement and mutual relation of the constituent parts of a material object, esp. as determining its distinctive nature or character; physical composition, frame, or make-up.
a. In various scientific applications.
(a) Anatomy and Biology.
ΚΠ
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 31 (margin) Of the exquisite structure of the hand.
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia xxxiv. 163 But whatever be the use of it [sc. the sting of a bee], certain it is, that the structure of it is very admirable.
1692 R. Bentley Matter & Motion cannot Think 13 The Organical Structure of Human Bodies..is unquestionably the workmanship of a most wise and powerfull and beneficent Maker.
1725 N. Robinson New Theory of Physick 49 This imperfect Sketch,..concerning the Structure, Mechanism, Laws, Properties, and Motions of that System of Matter, that compose a human Body.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 11 Many philosophers..have..minutely examined their [sc. caterpillars'] structure and internal conformation.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 49 Every plant examined as to external structure, displays at least four systems of organs.
1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 88 The secretion of dermal glands..always appears first in the walls of the cells, and gives them a peculiar structure.
1922 Guy's Hosp. Rep. 72 200 Cells differing in structure from those characteristic of the part of the body are produced.
1970 E. Mayr Populations, Species, & Evol. xvii. 311 Numerous cases..are now known of well-defined and reproductively isolated species that agree completely in their chromosome structure.
2011 Nature 7 Apr. 42/2 From the inner layer of the cup, the complex laminar structure of the neural retina will develop.
(b) Geology and Mineralogy.
ΚΠ
1758 W. Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall vii. 72 The sand of a particular shore, cove, or bay, has generally the same colour, and in a microscope the same structure as the rocks and stones of the adjacent cliffs.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 51 Of the internal Structure of the Earth.
1816 P. Cleaveland Elem. Treat. Mineral. & Geol. 51 The structure of a mineral undoubtedly depends on the shape, size, and arrangement of the minute parts, of which it is composed.
1849 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Geol. (1850) iii. 274 The lava is lamellar in structure.
1925 J. Joly Surface-hist. Earth iii. 47 These rocks..present to our view many varieties of structure and mineral composition.
1940 F. F. Grout Kemp's Handbk. Rocks (ed. 6) ii. 29 We are tending more and more to employ the word structure for the larger features of a rock, while the smaller features which may be seen even on a small fragment are described as textures.
2009 T. Waltham Found. Engin. Geol. (ed. 3) vii. 16/1 (caption) The north-south section is drawn along the strike, so does not demonstrate the dipping geological structure.
(c) Chemistry.
ΚΠ
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 58/2 The microscopical and atomical structure of fat.
1873 J. P. Cooke New Chem. (1874) xi. 245 Metathesis consists in the interchange of atoms..between two molecules, and implies that the structure of these molecules is not otherwise altered.
1939 R. C. Evans Introd. Crystal Chem. viii. 204 The structure of perovskite corresponds to the composition ABO3 and has the cubic or pseudo-cubic unit cell shown in Fig. 46.
1955 B. C. L. Kemp Elem. Org. Chem. (new ed.) i. 12 One of the distinctive features of organic chemistry is the very great importance of structure, i.e. the relative positions of the various atoms which compose the molecule of a substance.
2008 New Scientist 30 Aug. 22/1 The $1.5 billion global sweetener industry..has previously created new products by tinkering with the structure of the sugar molecule.
b. More general uses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > [noun]
shapec1050
composition1382
temperc1400
confectionc1420
temperament1471
frame?1520
compage1550
architecture1590
compacture1590
structure?1591
fabricaturec1600
constitution1601
membrature1606
composture1614
compositure1625
contexturea1639
composure1639
economy1644
fabric1644
conformation1646
composier1648
constructurea1652
compages1660
mechanism1662
compound1671
construction1707
componency1750
formation1774
make-up1821
?1591 H. Barrow Brief Discouerie False Church 199 With what admiration hath he expressed the absolute perfect structure of that compact citie?
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1161 It is more like and probable that it [sc. the moon] hath a certaine temperature and obeisant compact structure.
?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses (new ed.) iv. 1075 An Idoll, that Iphthima did present In structure of her euery lineament [margin. δεμας membrorum structura].
1657 J. Cooke tr. J. Hall Sel. Observ. Eng. Bodies 203 My Lady Rainsford beautifull and of a gallant structure of body.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 91 The admirable Structure of this Place.
1814 D. Brewster in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 104 438 The interior part of the drop had a structure similar to that of fluid glass.
1911 Mem. & Proc. Manch. Literary & Philos. Soc. 55 p. xviii (heading) The scattering of the α and β rays and the structure of the atom.
1963 F. A. Valente Man. Exper. Reactor Physics viii. 262 In principle, exponential piles have the same structure and composition as the potential or proposed reactor of which they are supposed to be a copy.
1989 R. Penrose Emperor's New Mind vii. 345 It can be no ordinary quantum theory. It must be a quantum theory of the very structure of space and time.
2012 Earthmovers Apr. 69/1 The structure of the road is relatively straightforward.
3.
a. figurative. The arrangement and organization of mutually connected and dependent elements in a system or construct.
ΚΠ
1595 W. Covell Polimanteia sig. E4v All proportion is not song, or melodie, although otherwise it bee a harmonie, for his good structure and equall figure.
1607 J. Marston What you Will v. i. sig. H2 Vouchafe to vew the structure of a sceane That stands on tragike sollid passion.
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus iv. 60 Natural Philosophy does search into causes of things, and rational Philosophy discuss the propriety of words, and structure of Arguments.
1757 R. Price Review Morals (1769) i. 13 Then..it [morality] has no other measure or standard, besides every one's private structure of mind and sensations.
1792 D. Scurlock Thoughts on Infl. Relig. in Civil Govt. 40 The very structure of all society and government evidently implies, that men..are under the absolute necessity of having some more coercive power to limit and direct them.
1803 H. P. Brougham Inq. Colonial Policy European Powers I. 50 The structure of society..is the same in all those settlements.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiv. 239 Bacon, in the structure of his mind, held of the analogists, [etc.].
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 2 Men..became conscious of new fibre in their moral structure.
1931 M. D. Calvocoressi tr. Bartók's Hungarian Folk Music 27 Their structure is usually ABCD, and their frank pentatonism evinces their antiquity.
1977 D. E. Hunter & P. Whitten Stud. Cultural Anthropol. xviii. 396/1 Like other Bedouin tribes, Mutayr have what is called a segmentary tribal structure.
2011 Nature 20 Jan. 303/2 The structure of the financial sector has to be scrutinized for its stabilizing and destabilizing feedbacks.
b. spec. With reference to literary works or to the (linguistic) construction of sentences.See also deep structure n. at deep adj. Compounds 2, surface structure n. at surface n. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [noun] > form or order of a work
shape1357
form1551
methoda1586
structure1598
cast1774
composition1839
1598 F. Meres tr. Luis de Granada Deuotion xv. 131 They vse other maner of variations, which are not of the substance of the oration: as apt structure & composition, fit concourse and conioyning of vowels and consonants, tropes, schemes, figures, &c.
1653 R. Lloyd Latine Gram. 25 All Pronounes, as implying, a quantity may be used partitively, yet such as have not that sense properly, but adventitiously, will not admit the structure of the partitives regularly.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles i. xix. 37 I fear'd to change the Structure of his Line.
1749 J. Mason Ess. Power & Harmony Prosaic Numbers Pref. 3 A critical Regard to the Structure of their Periods.
1789 New London Mag. July 361/1 A new farce..was presented last Saturday at this theatre. The structure is light and pleasant.
1823 T. Ross tr. F. Bouterwek Hist. Spanish & Portuguese Lit. I. 260 Combining the unity of ideas, which ought to distinguish that species of composition [sc. the sonnet], with the most elegant rounding and regularity of structure.
1833 J. Rush Philos. Human Voice (ed. 2) xlv. 313 When the structure of a sentence is so much involved as to produce a momentary hesitation in an audience, about its concord or government.
1861 F. Metcalfe Oxonian in Iceland ii. 13 The Icelandic and Faroëse are like in words and structure.
1908 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 99 The whole matter is disposed of in a single sentence, though that sentence, we admit, is somewhat Germanic in its structure.
1976 L. Lönnroth Njáls Saga ii. 24 The relative independence of the episodes and the relation they bear to the structure of the saga as a whole.
2004 T. McNulty Errol Flynn ii. 48 The novel's structure is simple enough.
4.
a. The quality or fact of being organized in a particular manner; definite or purposeful arrangement of parts within a whole.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > [noun] > fact of having structure
structure1850
structuredness1941
1850 R. W. Emerson Goethe in Representative Men vii. 284 The highest simplicity of structure is produced, not by few elements, but by the highest complexity.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. iii. 64 Though structure up to a certain point [in the animal organism] is requisite for growth, structure beyond that point impedes growth.
1921 Bull. National Res. Council No. 14. 342 It was an error to assume that the atom was indivisible and without structure.
1978 New Scientist 7 Sept. 697/3 The book lacks structure: it doesn't have ‘a beginning, a middle and an end’.
2010 T. de Villiers-Botha & P. Cilliers in P. Cilliers & R. Preiser Complexity, Difference & Identity ii. 36 It should be emphasised that a complex system is not chaotic; it has structure.
b. The quality or fact of having order in one's daily life, esp. as a result of self-discipline, routine, or being subject to an unambiguous and consistent set of rules and expectations.
ΚΠ
1965 Press-Courier (Oxnard, Calif.) 19 July 10 A certain amount of structure and discipline..help him [sc. the child] maintain self-respect.
1984 A. Brookner Hotel du Lac (1993) x. 135 It was eight o'clock, a reasonable hour at which to awake if one's day had no structure, but for Edith..unconscionably late.
1994 Working Mother Aug. 32/2 Having structure in your life frees you up, because you know that you'll do this and someone else will do that.
2013 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 2 June a2/4 My father never graduated from high school, but he learned structure and discipline in the orphanage.
II. Something constructed or having organization.
5. † c. Buildings collectively. Obsolete. rare.
a. A building, an edifice; esp. (in early use) a large or imposing one.In quot. 1671 in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > [noun]
bottleeOE
houseeOE
boldOE
building1297
builda1387
edificec1386
mansion1389
bigginga1400
housinga1400
edification1432
edifying1432
fabric1483
edify1555
structure1560
erection1609
framec1639
bastiment1679
drum1846
dump1899
gaff1932
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > [noun] > buildings
structure1560
range1618
structure1671
set1722
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > that which is built or constructed > [noun]
workOE
structure1560
construction1796
the world > life > the body > [noun]
lichamc888
bodyeOE
earthOE
lichOE
bone houseOE
dustc1000
fleshOE
utter mana1050
bonesOE
bodiȝlichc1175
bouka1225
bellyc1275
slimec1315
corpsec1325
vesselc1360
tabernaclec1374
carrion1377
corsec1386
personc1390
claya1400
carcass1406
lump of claya1425
sensuality?a1425
corpusc1440
God's imagea1450
bulka1475
natural body1526
outward man1526
quarrons1567
blood bulk1570
skinfula1592
flesh-rind1593
clod1595
anatomy1597
veil1598
microcosm1601
machine1604
outwall1608
lay part1609
machina1612
cabinet1614
automaton1644
case1655
mud wall1662
structure1671
soul case1683
incarnation1745
personality1748
personage1785
man1830
embodiment1850
flesh-stuff1855
corporeity1865
chassis1930
soma1958
1560 W. Painter tr. W. Fulke Antiprognosticon sig. B.iiv Daiely experience teacheth vs, that no structure can be firme and of continuance, excepte the foundations therof be first surely laide.
1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 104 Her structures ruin'd are, and there doth grow, A groue of fatall Elmes.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 707 The bodies..were buried in the Abbey Church,..in Saint Peters, and in other religious Structures.
1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 297 Dilichius..not onely mentions the seven Hills, but tells also what magnificent structures stand upon them.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1239 [Spoken to the giant Harapha.] Go baffl'd coward, lest I run upon thee,..And with one buffet lay thy structure low. View more context for this quotation
1739 T. Gray Let. 21 Nov. in Corr. (1971) I. 131 A church..which is, indeed, a most stately structure.
1787 J. Barlow Vision of Columbus ix. 256 In this mid region, this delightful clime,..A spacious structure rose.
1818 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto IV i. 3 I saw from out the wave her structures rise As from the stroke of the enchanter's wand.
1853 J. Phillips Rivers, Mountains, & Sea-coast Yorks. viii. 202 Of these humble structures we have only the foundations.
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand viii. 34 This log house had in time given way to a more pretentious structure of brick.
1910 J. R. Swanton in F. W. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians II. 895/1 Wakashan dwellings were large structures of huge cedar beams and planks.
1948 Life 19 Apr. 33/1 The sense of history and greatness in Winston Churchill is closely linked with Blenheim Palace, the magnificent structure which a grateful English nation built for his ancestor.
2006 M. A. Aldrich Search for Vanishing Beijing xiii. 241 107 families live in a structure that had only 20 families in 1949.
b. figurative and in figurative context. Something likened to a building, in having been raised up from foundations. Cf. sense 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > [noun] > social organization
structure1587
socialry1896
the world > relative properties > order > [noun] > quality of being systematic > systematic arrangement
ordination?a1425
structure1587
syntax1605
system1699
organism1701
classification1767
organization1790
systematization1838
1587 R. Rawlyns Certaine Gen. Concl. in tr. Orpheus sig. C4v The Lawe dispersed here and there confusedlie, is nothing so beautifull, nothing so goodly, nothing so profitable, as if it were built vp in one Structure.
1635 R. Sanderson Two Serm. S. Pauls Crosse & Grantham i. 6 To dissolve those joynts and contignations, which..claspe into one structure, those many little members and parts, whereof all humane societies consist.
1637 W. Saltonstall tr. Eusebius Life Constantine 49 Your contentions doe arise from points not concerning the maine structure of Religion.
1694 M. Prior For New Year: To Sun 4 Eternal Structures let Them raise, On William's and Maria's Praise: Nor want new Subject for the Song.
1744 Rule of Life (ed. 2) 85 It being more grateful to the Mind to contemplate the Structures of Learning..than to discuss the low Materials of their Foundations.
1769 W. Jackson Beauties of Nature 147 All those endearing Laws on which the noble and beautiful Structure of Society is raised.
1800 M. A. Hanway Andrew Stuart III. x. 168 The detestable doctrines of the new school of soi-disant philosophers..on which you are rearing a structure of happiness, that will inevitably destroy your joys here.
1833 Christian Observer Oct. 577 The Christian religion was intended by them to be the corner-stone of the social and political structures.
1905 G. L. Dickinson Mod. Symp. 77 I have been watching..one building after another laboriously raised by each speaker in turn, only to collapse ignominiously... The structures were built upon the sand.
2010 D. Vilavedra in L. Martín-Estudillo & N. Spadaccini New Spain, New Literatures vii. 118 The foundations on which the precarious structure of Galician literature had been built.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > [noun] > buildings
structure1560
range1618
structure1671
set1722
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 285 Ecbatana her structure vast there shews. View more context for this quotation
6. Any framework or fabric of assembled material parts; a (typically large) man-made construction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [noun] > construction > that which is constructed
structure1612
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > [noun] > a structure
machine1545
framework1578
compact1600
fabrication1602
machination1605
compound1607
structure1612
compilement1624
fabric1633
contignation1635
artifice1700
mechanism1712
creel1788
composition1793
arrangement1800
1612 S. Daniel First Pt. Hist. Eng. i. 25 Britaine..could not but partake of the magnificence of their goodly structures, Thermes, Aquaductes, High wayes.
1677 T. Jordan Londons Triumphs Illustr. (title page) Illustrated with many Magnificent Structures & Pageants.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 195 Then [he] lights the structure, with averted eyes; The rowling smokes involve the sacrifice.
1788 W. Cowper Gratitude 25 This moveable structure of shelves,..charg'd with octavos and twelves.
1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama xxiii. 247 Eight bridges arch'd the stream; huge piles of brass Magnificent, such structures as beseem The Seat and Capital of such great God.
1841 W. Whewell Mech. Engin. 51 Structures are of various kinds, as Frames, which have their parts connected by pins or mortises; and Arches, in which the parts are connected only by contact.
1887 Manch. Weekly Times 19 Feb. 4/5 Not only will this structure appear as an eyesore from every part of Paris, but it is said that it will be visible as far away as Dijon.
1901 G. L. Mouchel Brit. Patent 8831/1900 1 This invention relates to building blocks, caissons, piers,..and analogous structures.
1944 Pop. Sci. Monthly Oct. 94/2 In seven hours a huge structure 180 feet long can be put up by a crew of 148.
2010 S. Fry Fry Chrons. 75 A famous wooden structure known as the Mathematical Bridge..spans the River Cam.
7. A combination or network of mutually connected and dependent parts or elements; an organized body or system.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > [noun] > an organized social structure
body politic1596
structure1660
social organization1829
1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection v. iv. 278 in Justice Vindicated The whole structure of his civitas might be dissolved.
1835 Afr. Repository & Colonial Jrnl. Apr. 115 The inhabitants of Liberia can..sustain their political and social structures.
1876 H. Spencer Princ. Sociol. (1885) I. 526 The general law of organization..is that distinct duties entail distinct structures.
1920 A. N. Whitehead Concept of Nature viii. 166 Nature is a structure of events.
1948 Times 23 Nov. 6/5 The individual members..have tried to administer the industry within an unwieldy and totally ineffective structure.
1965 Language 41 73 The nested structures are phrase types which are in clear structural contrast in the language.
2013 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 7 Feb. 12 The church has a duty to respond to human needs by loving service and to seek to transform unjust structures of society.
8. Biology. A connected and organized arrangement of physical components forming a living organism or part of one.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > organism > [noun]
structure1683
organization1707
individual1746
series1748
organism1834
macroorganism1941
1683 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 13 364 What first of all we took notice of, was the remarkable structures of the Stomacks, for it had three.
1742 G. Turnbull Observ. Liberal Educ. 105 We shall find wisdom and goodness in the fabric or anatomy of the human mind, since we see such proofs of them every where in vegetable and animal structures.
1794 Trans. Linn. Soc. 2 258 Mr. Goeze seems also to have taken the middle structures of vessels for ovaria or oviducts.
1830 J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. (rev. ed.) 6 Each stage of the existence of these wonderful vegetable structures.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species vi. 182 When we see any structure highly perfected for any particular habit, as the wings of a bird for flight.
1953 H. Mellanby Animal Life in Fresh Water (ed. 5) ii. 11 The most obvious thing will be a large number of transparent pointed rod-like structures which are called spicules.
1991 A. D. Bell Plant Form (1993) i. 80/1 Glandular structures may secrete salt..or water.
2010 Nature 16 Dec. 900/2 This behaviour involves a pair of primitive eye-like structures inside the larva.
Compounds
C1.
structure-borne adj.
ΚΠ
1932 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 10 Sept. 528/1 Structural discontinuity was the specific remedy for structure-borne noises.
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 38 Structure-borne noises are almost impossible to eliminate.
2010 G. C. Tocci in W. J. Cavanaugh et al. Archit. Acoustics (ed. 2) iii. 99/2 Wall-hung telephones..can produce sufficient vibration to produce audible structure-borne sound in adjacent living units.
structure-sensitive adj.
ΚΠ
1933 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 19 819 It [sc. superconductivity] is therefore a structure sensitive property.
1970 Language 46 261 We demonstrate the use of transformational rules applied to the output of structure-free grammars as a means of generating symmetrical strings which are not only structure-sensitive but context-sensitive as well.
2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. vii. 291 These properties are not structure-sensitive, although they do of course depend on density and are thus slightly affected by annealing.
structure-sensitivity n.
ΚΠ
1952 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 215 368 The structure-sensitivity of the thermo-electric power suggests..some less reproducible contribution.
1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Dec. 1590/4 My emphasis on structure sensitivity in ‘natural’ situations leads me to look for leads in linguistics.
1992 C.-D. Lee & M. Gasser in J. Dinsmore Symbolic & Connectionist Paradigms 151 Structure-sensitivity is the ability of a system to process encodings in accordance with the structure of the items they encode.
structure-straining adj.
ΚΠ
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 670 They..turn it bodily over and over, with structure-straining bumps to the boat, and any amount of advice..to each other.
2011 dukewisdom pointyguitar.wordpress.com 8 Jan. (blog, accessed 25 Feb. 2013) Not pictured: A structure-straining Peavey T-60.
C2.
structure contour n. Geology a line connecting points of equal height or depth on a bounding surface, esp. that of a rock stratum; frequently attributive; cf. structural contour n. at structural adj. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1904 S. F. Emmons & C. W. Hayes Contrib. Econ. Geol. 1903 404 The Pittsburg coal..is the reference stratum on which the structure contour lines are drawn.
1988 Jrnl. Struct. Geol. 10 111/1 Structure contour maps of deformed horizons are commonly used by exploration geologists and are usually seismically derived.
2003 M. N. Sara Site Assessment & Remediation Handbk. (ed. 2) vii. 444/2 The selection of a suitable horizon for representation by structure contours depends upon the complexity of the system being investigated.
structure dependence n. (a) the fact or condition of being dependent on structure; (b) Linguistics the adherence of syntactic operations to the organization of sentences into phrases.
ΚΠ
1970 Amer. Philos. Q. 7 304/2 It is certainly not obvious..that the structure dependence of, say, an interrogative transformation is substantially different from the structure dependence of an individual jump in..hopscotch.
1976 N. Chomsky Reflections on Lang. i. i. 33 The principle of structure-dependence is not learned, but forms part of the conditions for language learning.
1991 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 334 534 We do find a structure dependence to the effective charge.
2010 M. Saxton Child Lang. viii. 205 To see if children are willing to violate structure dependence, more error-prone auxiliaries are suitable, like can, should and do.
structure dependency n. = structure dependence n.
ΚΠ
1961 Philos. Sci. 28 215 Normal inductive policy simply indicates to treat as ‘basic’ only such laws for which there is thus far not the slightest evidence of structure-dependency.
1973 Language 49 698 This in itself does not argue against surface constraints, only against the lack of structure dependency in certain output conditions.
2000 S. E. Carroll Input & Evid. vi. 225 All natural languages appear to manifest structure dependency.
structure-dependent adj. (a) dependent on structure; (b) Linguistics (of a syntactic rule or operation) adhering to the organization of sentences into phrases.
ΚΠ
1951 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 207 428 The law of corresponding states may be slightly structure dependent.
1965 N. Chomsky Aspects Theory Syntax i. 56 If the structural analyses that define transformations are restricted to Boolean conditions on Analyzability..it will be impossible to formulate many ‘structure-dependent’ operations as transformations.
2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 28 Feb. 34/2 The mind uses ‘structure-dependent’ rules, for example the transformational rules I earlier described.
structure formula n. [probably after German Structurformel (1868 or earlier; now Strukturformel ); compare earlier structural formula n. at structural adj. Compounds] Chemistry = structural formula n. at structural adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > experiments > [noun] > scientific method > of representation
formula1855
structural formula1868
structure formula1877
1877 Pharmaceut. Jrnl. & Trans. 10 Feb. 668/1 Structure formulæ were to be accepted to a large extent as true only of bodies which were known to behave in particular ways in particular reactions.
1921 I. W. D. Hackh Chem. Reactions & their Equations ii. 10 The above structure formula indicates that oxygen is always bivalent, as it has two bonds.
2004 K. K. Makinen in C. Remacle & B. Reusens Functional Foods ix. 202 (caption) The structure formula of four dietary sugar alcohols.
structure-independent adj. (a) independent of structure (b) Linguistics (of a syntactic rule or operation) not adhering to or bound by the organization of sentences into phrases.
ΚΠ
1948 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 195 323 The second term is structure independent and represents the damping motion [etc.].
1972 Ling. Inq. 3 85 Chomsky's claim..that the only kinds of possible output conditions are ‘stupid’, i.e. structure-independent, ones is incorrect.
1998 B. Comrie in M. Tomasello New Psychol. of Lang. II. 200 The inability to deal with structure-independent operations is a basic limitation of the human cognitive capacity.
structure mill n. †(a) Physical Geography (in the terminology of J. Tyndall) the part of a glacier at the bottom of an ice fall in which a veined structure is created in the ice owing to the pressure of the ice above it (obsolete rare); (b) = section mill n. at section n. Additions.
ΚΠ
1859 J. Tyndall in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 149 285 All the ice that forms the lower portion of this glacier has to pass through this structure mill at the base of the fall, and the consequence is that it is all laminated.
1880 J. Tyndall in Humboldt Libr. Pop. Sci. Lit. 15 Jan. 26/2 We called this portion of the glacier a ‘Structure Mill’, intimating that here, and not on the névé, the veined structure was manufactured.
1893 Birmingham Daily Post 7 Mar. 4/6 It is intended to erect a new structure-mill and universal plate-mill in the immediate future.
1911 Ticker & Investm. Digest Oct. 254/1 A new rail mill was put in operation in 1907, and a new structure mill in 1908.
1982 C. N. Daftuar Job Attitudes in Indian Managem. ii. 29 There are about 10 departments in the work section..blooming mill, billet mill, rail and structure mill, merchant mill, [etc.]
structure plan n. a plan drawn up by a local planning authority for the development, use, conservation, etc., of a particular area.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > [noun] > town-planning or development > plan
town plot1638
town plat1656
town plan1824
structure plan1967
1967 Times 24 June 2/7 Within the policy framework of the ‘structure’ plan, local authorities will prepare detailed local plans.
1971 Act 19 & 20 Eliz. II c. 78 §7 The local planning authority shall..prepare and send the Secretary of State..a structure plan for their area.
2007 N. Rosen How to live Off-grid vii. 294 In Scotland the system is more complicated, and each council has a development plan, a structure plan and a local plan.
structure planning n. the preparation of a structure plan.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > [noun] > town-planning or development
development1874
urbanism1884
town planning1906
city planning1907
urban planning1907
redevelopment1908
housing development1912
structure planning1969
1969 Economist 29 Mar. 23/1 All the main components in so-called structure planning in Greater London have long been under public discussion.
1976 Alyn & Deeside Observer 10 Dec. 16/1 The strange spectacle of two Conservative councils locked in a fierce exchange over structure planning.
2011 West Austral. (Perth) (Nexis) 9 Nov. 24 A number of major steps in the planning process will be required before development applications can be considered, including detailed structure planning, transport and utilities studies, [etc.].
structure word n. Grammar = structural word n. at structural adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > [noun] > function word
particle1533
parcel1571
syncategorem1655
agency1778
empty word1854
symbolic1871
form-word1875
structural word1884
particule1889
pheme1906
structure word1925
function word1927
operator1938
logical word1940
keneme1950
rheme1953
functor1958
1925 Classical Jrnl. 20 516 Common Anglo-Saxon ‘structure’ words (articles, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, the verb to be, and common auxiliaries) account for more than one-half of all word occurrences in any representative body of English.
1956 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxvi. 59 A listing by parts of speech brings out the numerical superiority of nouns, and the relatively small number of structure words borrowed.
2001 L. Unsworth Teaching Multiliteracies across Curriculum iv. 115 This is achieved through greater use of lexical items (content words) in comparison with grammatical items (structure words).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
structurev.
/ˈstrʌktʃə/, U.S. /ˈstrək(t)ʃər/ 1.
a. transitive. To organize or arrange the parts or elements of (something) so as to create structure; to build or form into a structure. More widely: to construct, to form, to organize. Also (occasionally) intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > construct
workOE
dighta1175
to set upc1275
graitha1300
formc1300
pitchc1330
compoundc1374
to put togethera1387
performc1395
bigc1400
elementc1400
complexion1413
erect1417
framea1450
edifya1464
compose1481
construe1490
to lay together1530
perstruct1547
to piece together1572
condite1578
conflate1583
compile1590
to put together1591
to set together1603
draw1604
build1605
fabric1623
complicate1624
composit1640
constitute1646
compaginate1648
upa1658
complex1659
construct1663
structurate1664
structure1664
confect1677
to put up1699
rig1754
effect1791
structuralize1913
the world > relative properties > order > put in (proper) order [verb (transitive)] > reduce to order > give structure to or organize
edifya1340
beset1413
reduce?a1425
institutea1538
compile1596
to deraign battle1596
modelize1600
skillc1610
organize1632
formalize1646
model1652
modulize1656
structure1664
economize1691
regiment1698
structurize1912
pattern1967
1664 Rational Disc. Universal Med. 8 By Art it [sc. a medicine] is so structured as that if it do no good of it self, it can do no man harm.
1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xliv. 361 In which dangerous Opposition, Equity and Justice being structured and founded on either of the opposite Terms, and a Gap being thereby opened for the ushering in of Injustice and Iniquity.
1785 J. Fawel Princip. Sound Policy iii. 106 To expect, that the pious Foundation they had structured in the Minds of the Youth once under their Care, should still be cherished.
1826 Bangor (Maine) Reg. 7 Sept. Such an examination is in perfect accordance with the principles upon which our free and republican institutions are structured.
1876 H. Spencer Princ. Sociol. I. i. xxiv. 392 What degree of likeness can we find between a man and a mountain?..the one has little internal structure, and that irregular, the other is elaborately structured internally in a definite way.
1949 M. Mead Male & Female xv. 296 This has been an accurate picture of the way in which we have structured our society, with women as keepers of the house.., and men as keepers of women in the house.
1955 W. H. Auden Shield of Achilles i. 16 When, on some windless day Of dejection, unable To name or to structure.
1979 Nature 23 Aug. 652/1 The chemical exchanges among uplands, marshes and coastal waters are important in structuring these ecosystems.
2008 Chicago Tribune 14 Jan. (Midwest Final ed.) iii. 3/2 Whether to structure a business as a for-profit or non-profit is becoming a common dilemma among so-called social entrepreneurs.
b. transitive. To construct or arrange according to a plan; to manipulate (a process, situation, etc.) so as to elicit the desired response or outcome.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > [verb (transitive)] > manipulate in order to achieve desired end
structure1960
1960 W. J. McKeachie in G. Finch Educ. & Training Media 26 Those students who structured the field as the instructor did tended to earn higher grades.
1971 J. B. Carroll et al. Word Frequency Bk. p. ix His assistance was also essential in..structuring the survey to reflect curriculum divisions and publications diversity.
1994 CIO 1 June 90/3 Any sort of decision aid helps you to structure the situation and forces you to look at it from a different perspective.
2010 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 2 July 3 I can't remember the last time I structured a lesson properly; since my exam classes left I have been teaching off-piste.
2. transitive. To assign to a place in a structure; to absorb or integrate into a pattern or system.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > put in (proper) order [verb (transitive)] > reduce to order > systematize > integrate into a system
refer1559
structure1952
1952 G. Simpson in tr. E. Durkheim Suicide (2002) p. xv Egoistic suicide and altruistic suicide may be considered to be symptomatic of the way in which the individual is structured into the society.
1959 M. Dolinsky There is no Silence iii. 44 You don't easily structure the unusual or the exotic.
1977 A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory i. 70 Criticism thus cannot be terminated within the sphere of science itself, but must concern itself with the standards or values which structure science as one mode of activity among others.
2001 Trav. Afr. Winter 97/4 It may seem like a void at first, but you soon appreciate having this free time structured into your day.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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