structure

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing

   I have good bone structure.

2. 2
   noun

   the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations

   The professor's lectures have no structure.

3. 3
   verb

   give a structure to

   I need to structure my days

4. 4
   noun

   the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts

   artists must study the structure of the human body

5. 5
   noun

   A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

   The birds had built an amazing structure out of sticks and various discarded items.

6. 6
   noun

   The underlying shape of a solid.

   He studied the structure of her face.

7. 7
   noun

   The overall form or organization of something.

   The structure of a sentence.

8. 8
   noun

   A set of rules defining behaviour.

   For some, the structure of school life was oppressive.

Etymology

From Middle French structure, from Latin structūra (“a fitting together, adjustment, building, erection, a building, edifice, structure”), from struere, past participle structus (“pile up, arrange, assemble, build”). Compare construct, instruct, destroy, etc.