structure

Syllables: struc·tureUK/ˈstɹʌk(t)ʃə//ˈstɹʌkt͡ʃɚ/

structure noun: a cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

Noun

structure (countable and uncountable, plural structures)

A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.
- The birds had built an amazing structure out of sticks and various discarded items.
- The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great...1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
Synonyms:

formation
The underlying shape of a solid.
- He studied the structure of her face.
Synonyms:

formation
The overall form or organization of something.
- The structure of a sentence.
- The structure of the society was still a mystery.
Synonyms:

makeup, configuration, arrangement, composition, format, constitution, form
A set of rules defining behaviour.
- For some, the structure of school life was oppressive.
Several pieces of data treated as a unit.
- This structure contains both date and timezone information.
(uncountable) Underwater terrain or objects (such as a dead tree or a submerged car) that tend to attract fish
- There's lots of structure to be fished along the west shore of the lake; the impoundment submerged a town there when it was built.
A body, such as a political party, with a cohesive purpose or outlook.
- The South African leader went off to consult with the structures.
A set along with a collection of finitary functions and relations.

Verb

structure (third-person singular simple present structures, present participle structuring, simple past and past participle structured)

(transitive) To give structure to; to arrange.
- I'm trying to structure my time better so I'm not always late.
- I've structured the deal to limit the amount of money we can lose.

structure meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

structure in Hindi

cohesive whole built up of distinct parts: संरचना sanracnā, ढाँचा ḍhā̃cā
underlying shape of a solid: संरचना sanracnā, ढाँचा ḍhā̃cā

structure in Marathi

structure, composition: संरचना sauracanā
structure; arrangement or constitution: धारणा dhārṇā
structure or system for carrying out a particular task or by which it operates: व्यवस्थापन vyavasthāpan
structure, framework, arrangement: रचना racanā

structure in Urdu

cohesive whole built up of distinct parts: ساخت sāxt

More languagesFewer languages

structure in Bengali: গঠন goṭhon
structure in Telugu: స్ట్రక్చర్
structure in Malayalam: രൂപം rūpaṁ
structure in Kannada: ಸಂಸ್ಥಾನ saṃsthāna
structure in Punjabi: ਬਣਤਰ, ਢਾਂਚਾ, ਢਾਂਚੇ
structure in Gujarati: માળખું
structure in Odia: ଢାଞ୍ଚା, ସଂରଚନା, ଗଠନ
structure in Sanskrit: रूपम् rūpam
structure in Nepali: रचना racanā
structure in Tagalog: balangkas, estruktura, kayarian
structure in Arabic: هَيْكَل haykal
structure in Malay: rangka, struktur
structure in Indonesian: struktur
structure in Persian: سازه sâze, ساخت sâxt, ساختار sâxtâr
structure in Thai: โครงสร้าง kroong-sâang
structure in Vietnamese: kết cấu, cấu trúc
structure in Myanmar: ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံ hpwai.cany:pum

Examples of structure in a sentence

Built in the 1980s, the country’s Scott Base consists of 12 structures that officials want replaced by three large, interconnected buildings, plus a separate helicopter hangar.2019 September 26, Gianluca Mezzofiore, “Wanted: A design team for a building project at Earth’s most remote location – Antarctica”, in CNN:
Next, let’s structure (42c) The girl walked.2025, Edward A. F. Gibson, “Dependency Grammar” (chapter 3), in Syntax: A Cognitive Approach, MIT Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 57:

All 40 example sentences with structure

Synonyms of structure

All synonyms of structure

Forms of structure

Noun
plural	structures
Verb
third-person singular present	structures
present participle	structuring
past participle	structured
past	structured

Plural of structure: structures

Origin of structure

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.

Words formed from structure

Phrases with structure

6 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about structure

What does structure mean?: Structure means a cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.
What is structure in Hindi?: Structure in Hindi is संरचना (sanracnā), ढाँचा (ḍhā̃cā). See Structure meaning in Hindi.
How do you use structure in a sentence?: Built in the 1980s, the country’s Scott Base consists of 12 structures that officials want replaced by three large, interconnected buildings, plus a separate helicopter hangar.
What part of speech is structure?: Structure can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce structure?: Structure is pronounced /ˈstɹʌk(t)ʃə/ (UK).
What is the plural of structure?: The plural of structure is structures.

Words near structure in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: structure (page history and authors); structure (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); धारणा (Marathi) (page history and authors); structure (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ಸಂಸ್ಥಾನ (Kannada) (page history and authors); structure (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); structure (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); structure (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); रचना (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-structure.ogg.

Cite this entry: “structure.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/structure. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.