Word that means structure

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airdock, hangar, repair shed

a large structure at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintained

altar

a raised structure on which gifts or sacrifices to a god are made

arcade, colonnade

a structure composed of a series of arches supported by columns

arch

(architecture) a masonry construction (usually curved) for spanning an opening and supporting the weight above it

area

a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function

balcony

a platform projecting from the wall of a building and surrounded by a balustrade or railing or parapet

balcony

an upper floor projecting from the rear over the main floor in an auditorium

bascule

a structure or device in which one end is counterbalanced by the other (on the principle of the seesaw)

boarding

a structure of boards

body

the external structure of a vehicle

bridge, span

a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc.

building, edifice

a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place

building complex, complex

a whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structures

catchment

a structure in which water is collected (especially a natural drainage area)

coil, helix, spiral, volute, whorl

a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops

colonnade

structure consisting of a row of evenly spaced columns

column, pillar

a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument)

corner, quoin

(architecture) solid exterior angle of a building; especially one formed by a cornerstone

cross

a wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a transverse piece

deathtrap

any structure that is very unsafe; where people are likely to be killed

defence, defense, defensive structure

a structure used to defend against attack

door

a structure where people live or work (usually ordered along a street or road)

entablature

(architecture) the structure consisting of the part of a classical temple above the columns between a capital and the roof

erection

a structure that has been erected

establishment

a public or private structure (business or governmental or educational) including buildings and equipment for business or residence

false bottom

a horizontal structure that partitions a ship or box (especially one built close to the actual bottom)

floor, level, storey, story

a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale

fountain

a structure from which an artificially produced jet of water arises

guide

a structure or marking that serves to direct the motion or positioning of something

card-house, cardcastle, cardhouse, house of cards

an unstable construction with playing cards

housing, living accommodations, lodging

structures collectively in which people are housed

hull

the frame or body of a ship

jungle gym

a structure of vertical and horizontal rods where children can climb and play

lamination

a layered structure

landing, landing place

structure providing a place where boats can land people or goods

lookout, lookout station, observation tower, observatory

a structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings

masonry

structure built of stone or brick by a mason

memorial, monument

a structure erected to commemorate persons or events

hill, mound

structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones

impediment, impedimenta, obstructer, obstruction, obstructor

any structure that makes progress difficult

divider, partition

a vertical structure that divides or separates (as a wall divides one room from another)

platform, weapons platform

any military structure or vehicle bearing weapons

porch

a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance

post and lintel

a structure consisting of vertical beams (posts) supporting a horizontal beam (lintel)

prefab

a prefabricated structure

projection

any structure that branches out from a central support

public works

structures (such as highways or schools or bridges or docks) constructed at government expense for public use

sail

any structure that resembles a sail

offset, set-back, setoff

structure where a wall or building narrows abruptly

shelter

a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger

shoebox

a structure resembling a shoebox (as a rectangular building or a cramped room or compartment)

sign, signboard

structure displaying a board on which advertisements can be posted

arena, bowl, sports stadium, stadium

a large structure for open-air sports or entertainments

superstructure

structure consisting of the part of a ship above the main deck

supporting structure

a structure that serves to support something

tower

a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building

transept

structure forming the transverse part of a cruciform church; crosses the nave at right angles

trestlework

a supporting structure composed of a system of connected trestles; for a bridge or pier or scaffold e.g.

vaulting

(architecture) a vaulted structure

shipway, slipway, ways

structure consisting of a sloping way down to the water from the place where ships are built or repaired

wellhead

a structure built over a well

wind tunnel

a structure resembling a tunnel where air is blown at known velocities for testing parts of aircraft

honeycomb

a structure of small hexagonal cells constructed from beeswax by bees and used to store honey and larvae

balance, counterbalance, equilibrium, equipoise

equality of distribution

abattoir, butchery, shambles, slaughterhouse

a building where animals are butchered

abutment arch

an arch supported by an abutment

academy

a learned establishment for the advancement of knowledge

aisle

part of a church divided laterally from the nave proper by rows of pillars or columns

amphitheater, amphitheatre, coliseum

an oval large stadium with tiers of seats; an arena in which contests and spectacles are held

apartment, flat

a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house

apartment building, apartment house

a building that is divided into apartments

architecture

an architectural product or work

arm, branch, limb

any projection that is thought to resemble a human arm

auditorium

the area of a theater or concert hall where the audience sits

aviary, bird sanctuary, volary

a building where birds are kept

back porch

a porch for the back door

baggage claim

an area in an airport where arriving passengers can collect the luggage that has been carried in the hold of the aircraft

Bailey bridge

a temporary bridge designed for rapid construction

ballpark, park

a facility in which ball games are played (especially baseball games)

bar

an obstruction (usually metal) placed at the top of a goal

barbette

(formerly) a mound of earth inside a fort from which heavy gun can be fired over the parapet

barbacan, barbican

a tower that is part of a defensive structure (such as a castle)

barrier

a structure or object that impedes free movement

basement, cellar

the lowermost portion of a structure partly or wholly below ground level; often used for storage

bathhouse, bathing machine

a building containing dressing rooms for bathers

beacon, beacon light, lighthouse, pharos

a tower with a light that gives warning of shoals to passing ships

bell tower

a tower that supports or shelters a bell

billboard, hoarding

large outdoor signboard

billet

lodging for military personnel (especially in a private home)

block

housing in a large building that is divided into separate units

blockade

something that prevents access or progress

block, blockage, closure, occlusion, stop, stoppage

an obstruction in a pipe or tube

boards

the boarding that surrounds an ice hockey rink

bodywork

the exterior body of a motor vehicle

bowling alley

a building that contains several alleys for bowling

box

any one of several designated areas on a ball field where the batter or catcher or coaches are positioned

brass, memorial tablet, plaque

a memorial made of brass

brattice

a partition (often temporary) of planks or cloth that is used to control ventilation in a mine

breakfast area, breakfast nook

a place for light meals (usually near a kitchen)

brickwork

masonry done with bricks and mortar

brim

a circular projection that sticks outward from the crown of a hat

broken arch

an arch with a gap at the apex; the gap is usually filled with some decoration

bulkhead

a partition that divides a ship or plane into compartments

bullpen

a place on a baseball field where relief pitchers can warm up during a game

bullring

a stadium where bullfights take place

barrow, burial mound, grave mound, tumulus

(archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs

burr

rough projection left on a workpiece after drilling or cutting

camber arch

an arch with a straight horizontal extrados and a slightly arched intrados

camp

temporary lodgings in the country for travelers or vacationers

cantilever bridge

bridge constructed of two cantilevers that meet in the middle

cattle grid, cattle guard

a bridge over a ditch consisting of parallel metal bars that allow pedestrians and vehicles to pass, but not cattle

cenotaph, empty tomb

a monument built to honor people whose remains are interred elsewhere or whose remains cannot be recovered

center, centre

a building dedicated to a particular activity

bema, chancel, sanctuary

area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing

chapterhouse

a building attached to a monastery or cathedral; used as a meeting place for the chapter

cheval-de-frise, chevaux-de-frise

defensive structure consisting of a movable obstacle composed of barbed wire or spikes attached to a wooden frame; used to obstruct cavalry

choir

the area occupied by singers; the part of the chancel between sanctuary and nave

church tower

the tower of a church

circus

(antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games

cleat

a metal or leather projection (as from the sole of a shoe); prevents slipping

clock tower

a tower with a large clock visible high up on an outside face

club, clubhouse

a building that is occupied by a social club

college

a complex of buildings in which an institution of higher education is housed

condominium

housing consisting of a complex of dwelling units (as an apartment house) in which each unit is individually owned

control tower

a tower with an elevated workspace enclosed in glass for the visual observation of aircraft around an airport

cookhouse

a detached or outdoor shelter for cooking

corbel arch

(architecture) an arch constructed of masonry courses that are corbelled until they meet

corner, nook

an interior angle formed by two meeting walls

cornice

the topmost projecting part of an entablature

court, courtyard

an area wholly or partly surrounded by walls or buildings

covered bridge

a bridge whose passageway is protected by a roof and enclosing sides

dead-air space

an unventilated area where no air circulates

deck

a porch that resembles the deck on a ship

deck-house

a superstructure on the upper deck of a ship

dining area

an area arranged for dining

dock, dockage, docking facility

landing in a harbor next to a pier where ships are loaded and unloaded or repaired; may have gates to let water in or out

covered stadium, dome, domed stadium

a stadium that has a roof

dorm, dormitory, hall, residence hall, student residence

a college or university building containing living quarters for students

drawbridge, lift bridge

a bridge that can be raised to block passage or to allow boats or ships to pass beneath it

bubbler, drinking fountain, water fountain

a public fountain to provide a jet of drinking water

drip, drip mold, drip mould

(architecture) a projection from a cornice or sill designed to protect the area below from rainwater (as over a window or doorway)

dry masonry

masonry without mortar

dugout

either of two low shelters on either side of a baseball diamond where the players and coaches sit during the game

abode, domicile, dwelling, dwelling house, habitation, home

housing that someone is living in

embankment

a long artificial mound of stone or earth; built to hold back water or to support a road or as protection

enclosure

a structure consisting of an area that has been enclosed for some purpose

fallout shelter

a shelter to protect occupants from the fallout from an atomic bomb

fan vaulting

an elaborate system of vaulting in which the ribs diverge like fans

farm building

a building on a farm

feedlot

a building where livestock are fattened for market

firetrap

a building that would be hard to escape from if it were to catch fire

flange, rim

a projection used for strength or for attaching to another object

flashboard, flashboarding

boarding place along the top of a dam to increase its height

flat arch, straight arch

an arch with mutually supporting voussoirs that has a straight horizontal extrados and intrados

flue, fluke

flat bladelike projection on the arm of an anchor

football stadium

a stadium where football games are held

footbridge, overcrossing, pedestrian bridge

a bridge designed for pedestrians

fortification, munition

defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it

fort, fortress

a fortified defensive structure

framework

a structure supporting or containing something

front porch

a porch for the front door

fuselage

the central body of an airplane that is designed to accommodate the crew and passengers (or cargo)

gallery

narrow recessed balcony area along an upper floor on the interior of a building; usually marked by a colonnade

gambling den, gambling hell, gambling house, gaming house

a public building in which a variety of games of chance can be played (operated as a business)

gazebo, summerhouse

a small roofed building affording shade and rest

goalmouth

(sports) the area immediately in front of the goal

government building

a building that houses a branch of government

gravestone, headstone, tombstone

a stone that is used to mark a grave

glasshouse, greenhouse, nursery

a building with glass walls and roof; for the cultivation and exhibition of plants under controlled conditions

first floor, ground floor, ground level

the floor of a building that is at or nearest to the level of the ground around the building

gun enclosure, gun turret, turret

a self-contained weapons platform housing guns and capable of rotation

hall

a large building for meetings or entertainment

hall

a large building used by a college or university for teaching or research

Hall of Fame

a building containing trophies honoring famous people

hank

a coil of rope or wool or yarn

haven, oasis

a shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary

head

a projection out from one end

hideaway, retreat

an area where you can be alone

high altar

the main altar in a church

high-rise, tower block

tower consisting of a multistoried building of offices or apartments

encumbrance, hinderance, hindrance, hitch, incumbrance, interference, preventative, preventive

any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome

hippodrome

a stadium for horse shows or horse races

hospice

a lodging for travelers (especially one kept by a monastic order)

hostel, student lodging, youth hostel

inexpensive supervised lodging (especially for youths on bicycling trips)

hotel

a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services

casino-hotel, hotel-casino

a building that houses both a hotel and a casino

house

a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families

house

a building in which something is sheltered or located

hovel, hut, hutch, shack, shanty

small crude shelter used as a dwelling

army hut, field hut, hut

temporary military shelter

institution

an establishment consisting of a building or complex of buildings where an organization for the promotion of some cause is situated

boss, knob

a circular rounded projection or protuberance

laminate

a sheet of material made by bonding two or more sheets or layers

library

a building that houses a collection of books and other materials

line of defence, line of defense

defensive structure consisting of a barrier that can be employed for defense against attack

living quarters, quarters

housing available for people to live in

lobe

a rounded projection that is part of a larger structure

attic, garret, loft

floor consisting of open space at the top of a house just below roof; often used for storage

loft, pigeon loft

a raised shelter in which pigeons are kept

loft

floor consisting of a large unpartitioned space over a factory or warehouse or other commercial space

loge

balcony consisting of the forward section of a theater mezzanine

loggia

a roofed arcade or gallery with open sides stretching along the front or side of a building; often at an upper level

lug

a projecting piece that is used to lift or support or turn something

mantelet, mantlet

portable bulletproof shelter

health facility, healthcare facility, medical building

building where medicine is practiced

megalith, megalithic structure

memorial consisting of a very large stone forming part of a prehistoric structure (especially in western Europe)

entresol, mezzanine, mezzanine floor

intermediate floor just above the ground floor

first balcony, mezzanine

first or lowest balcony

minaret

slender tower with balconies

ministry

building where the business of a government department is transacted

manufactured home, mobile home

a large house trailer that can be connected to utilities and can be parked in one place and used as permanent housing

mooring mast, mooring tower

a tower for mooring airships

dead room, morgue, mortuary

a building (or room) where dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation

national monument

memorial consisting of a structure or natural landmark of historic interest; set aside by national government for preservation and public enjoyment

nave

the central area of a church

obelisk

a stone pillar having a rectangular cross section tapering towards a pyramidal top

observation dome

lookout consisting of a dome-shaped observatory

observatory

a building designed and equipped to observe astronomical phenomena

obstacle

an obstruction that stands in the way (and must be removed or surmounted or circumvented)

office block, office building

a building containing offices where work is done

opium den

a building where opium is sold and used

orchestra pit, pit

lowered area in front of a stage where an orchestra accompanies the performers

outbuilding

a building that is subordinate to and separate from a main building

outwork

subsidiary defensive structure lying outside the main fortified area

overhang

projection that extends beyond or hangs over something else

flyover, overpass

bridge formed by the upper level of a crossing of two highways at different levels

packinghouse

a building where foodstuffs are processed and packed

panopticon

an area where everything is visible

pantheon

a monument commemorating a nation’s dead heroes

patio, terrace

usually paved outdoor area adjoining a residence

perfumery

an establishment where perfumes are made

peristyle

a colonnade surrounding a building or enclosing a court

phrontistery

an establishment for study and learning (sometimes including modern universities)

pied-a-terre

lodging for occasional or secondary use

pier arch

an arch supported on piers

pit

(auto racing) an area at the side of a racetrack where the race cars are serviced and refueled

pit

(commodity exchange) the part of the floor of a commodity exchange where trading in a particular commodity is carried on

business establishment, place of business

an establishment (a factory or an assembly plant or retail store or warehouse etc.) where business is conducted, goods are made or stored or processed or where services are rendered

house of God, house of prayer, house of worship, place of worship

any building where congregations gather for prayer

planetarium

a building housing an instrument for projecting the positions of the planets onto a domed ceiling

industrial plant, plant, works

buildings for carrying on industrial labor

pointed arch

an arch with a pointed apex; characteristic of Gothic architecture

bateau bridge, floating bridge, pontoon bridge

a temporary bridge built over a series of pontoons

poorhouse

an establishment maintained at public expense in order to provide housing for the poor and homeless

portico

a porch or entrance to a building consisting of a covered and often columned area

presbytery

building reserved for the officiating clergy

press gallery

an area (sometimes in a balcony) set aside for reporters (especially in a legislative hall)

prong

a pointed projection

proscenium arch

the arch over the opening in the proscenium wall

lay-by, layby, pull-off, rest area, rest stop

designated paved area beside a main road where cars can stop temporarily

power pylon, pylon

a large vertical steel tower supporting high-tension power lines

pylon

a tower for guiding pilots or marking the turning point in a race

quad, quadrangle

a rectangular area surrounded on all sides by buildings

quartering

living accommodations (especially those assigned to military personnel)

rampant arch

an arch whose support is higher on one side than on the other

rattrap

filthy run-down dilapidated housing

asylum, refuge, sanctuary

a shelter from danger or hardship

eatery, eating house, eating place, restaurant

a building where people go to eat

rest house

a building used for shelter by travelers (especially in areas where there are no hotels)

ribbon development

building complex in a continuous row along a road

rink, skating rink

building that contains a surface for ice skating or roller skating

Roman building

a building constructed by the ancient Romans

room

an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling

rope bridge

a bridge consisting of ropes

rotunda

a building having a circular plan and a dome

round arch

an arch formed in a continuous curve; characteristic of Roman architecture

rowlock arch

an arch that is formed with more than one concentric row of voussoirs

ruin

a ruined building

safety arch

an undecorated arch that is included in order to strengthen or support a construction

sandwich board

signboard consisting of two hinged boards that hang front and back from the shoulders of a walker and are used to display advertisements

school, schoolhouse

a building where young people receive education

school system

establishment including the plant and equipment for providing education from kindergarten through high school

scoinson arch, sconcheon arch

an arch that supports part of the wall

sconce

a shelter or screen providing protection from enemy fire or from the weather

scoreboard

a large board for displaying the score of a contest (and some other information)

screen

partition consisting of a decorative frame or panel that serves to divide a space

family circle, peanut gallery, second balcony, upper balcony

rearmost or uppermost area in the balcony containing the least expensive seats

segmental arch

a shallow arch; an arch that is less than a semicircle

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Seven Wonders of the World

impressive monuments created in the ancient world that were regarded with awe

shelter

temporary housing for homeless or displaced persons

shingle

a small signboard outside the office of a lawyer or doctor, e.g.

shooting gallery

a building (usually abandoned) where drug addicts buy and use heroin

shot tower

tower of a kind once used to make shot; molten lead was poured through a sieve and dropped into water

shouldered arch

an arch consisting of a horizontal lintel supported at each end by corbels that project into the aperture

signal box, signal tower

a building from which signals are sent to control the movements of railway trains

silo

a cylindrical tower used for storing silage

diminished arch, scheme arch, skeen arch, skene arch

an arch whose height is less than half its width

frame, skeletal frame, skeleton, underframe

the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape

skew arch

an arch whose jambs are not at right angles with the face

skybox

an elevated box for viewing events at a sports stadium

skyscraper

a very tall building with many stories

snow bank, snowbank

a mound or heap of snow

spike

a sharp-pointed projection along the top of a fence or wall (or a dinosaur)

squinch

a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls (usually to support a spire)

steel arch bridge

a steel bridge constructed in the form of an arch

spire, steeple

a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top

stonework

masonry done with stone

stoep, stoop

small porch or set of steps at the front entrance of a house

storage space

the area in any structure that provides space for storage

cyclone cellar, storm cellar, tornado cellar

an underground shelter where you can go until a storm passes

fastness, stronghold

a strongly fortified defensive structure

student union

a building on a college campus dedicated to social and organizational activities of the student body

support

supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation

supporting tower

a tower that serves to support something

suspension bridge

a bridge that has a roadway supported by cables that are anchored at both ends

tap house, tavern

a building with a bar that is licensed to sell alcoholic drinks

telco building, telecom hotel

a building that houses telecommunications equipment

temple

an edifice devoted to special or exalted purposes

tenon

a projection at the end of a piece of wood that is shaped to fit into a mortise and form a mortise joint

collapsible shelter, tent

a portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs)

house, theater, theatre

a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented

threshing floor

a floor or ground area for threshing or treading out grain

toll bridge

a bridge where toll is charged for crossing

tooth

something resembling the tooth of an animal

tooth

one of a number of uniform projections on a gear

totem pole

a tribal emblem consisting of a pillar carved and painted with totemic figures; erected by Indian tribes of the northwest Pacific coast

tract housing

housing consisting of similar houses constructed together on a tract of land

trestle bridge

a bridge supported by trestlework

trimmer arch

an arch built between trimmers in a floor (to support the weight of a hearth)

triumphal arch

a monumental archway; usually they are built to commemorate some notable victory

truss bridge

a bridge supported by trusses

Tudor arch, four-centered arch

a low elliptical or pointed arch; usually drawn from four centers

tumbler

a movable obstruction in a lock that must be adjusted to a given position (as by a key) before the bolt can be thrown

turnaround

an area sufficiently large for a vehicle to turn around

turret

a small tower extending above a building

university

establishment where a seat of higher learning is housed, including administrative and living quarters as well as facilities for research and teaching

gallery, veranda, verandah

a porch along the outside of a building (sometimes partly enclosed)

viaduct

bridge consisting of a series of arches supported by piers used to carry a road (or railroad) over a valley

wall

an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure

watchtower

an observation tower for a lookout to watch over prisoners or watch for fires or enemies

bagnio, bawdyhouse, bordello, brothel, cathouse, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, sporting house

a building where prostitutes are available

widow’s walk

a lookout atop a coastal house

conformation

a symmetrical arrangement of the parts of a thing

proportion, symmetry

balance among the parts of something

median

a paved or landscaped dividing area between opposing lanes of travel on a highway

mission

a building or compound used by a group carrying out religious and humanitarian work

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This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

[ struhk-cher ]

/ ˈstrʌk tʃər /

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.


noun

mode of building, construction, or organization; arrangement of parts, elements, or constituents: a pyramidal structure.

something built or constructed, as a building, bridge, or dam.

a complex system considered from the point of view of the whole rather than of any single part: the structure of modern science.

anything composed of parts arranged together in some way; an organization.

the relationship or organization of the component parts of a work of art or literature: the structure of a poem.

Biology. mode of organization; construction and arrangement of tissues, parts, or organs.

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.

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.

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), struc·tured, struc·tur·ing.

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.

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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

synonym study for structure

OTHER WORDS FROM structure

de·struc·ture, verb (used with object), de·struc·tured, de·struc·tur·ing.in·ter·struc·ture, nounnon·struc·ture, nounpre·struc·ture, verb (used with object), pre·struc·tured, pre·struc·tur·ing.

Words nearby structure

structural linguistics, structural psychology, structural racism, structural steel, structural unemployment, structure, structured, structured programming, structureless, strudel, struggle

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to structure

architecture, arrangement, complex, construction, design, format, formation, framework, network, organization, system, edifice, house, anatomy, build, carcass, configuration, conformation, fabric, fabrication

How to use structure in a sentence

  • Saltwater needs to be even colder than freshwater to freeze — cold enough that the salt gets pushed out of the water’s crystal structure.

  • That fixed structure and ratio gives the chemical a specific set of properties.

  • Drone imagery also picked up signs of two pits, one dug at or near each end of the semicircular structure.

  • Palantir has an unusual power structure, which has raised eyebrows from investors.

  • Essentially, you’ve got a part of grammar and you can reuse it in building a larger structure.

  • In front of this strange structure are two blank-faced, well-dressed models showing off the latest in European minimalism.

  • One blames black Americans as a race; the other, racism as a social structure.

  • This is not because of bad leaders, or polarized politics, but because of a governing structure that is fatally flawed.

  • And the chord structure, for those of you who play an instrument, is unexpected and worth checking out.

  • According to a military spokesperson, Boko Haram had built a “female wing” in its command structure.

  • But dwelling means a special kind of structure—a building occupied by man—a place to live in.

  • The building, a mosque-like structure of considerable size, was situated in the midst of a grove of mango trees.

  • I had no sooner stepped upon the frail structure when it suddenly and unaccountably gave way in the middle.

  • In ordinary work, however, it is safer to base the distinction upon size than upon structure.

  • They combine the fixing with the staining process, and stain differentially every normal and abnormal structure in the blood.

British Dictionary definitions for structure


noun

a complex construction or entity

the arrangement and interrelationship of parts in a construction, such as a building

the manner of construction or organizationthe structure of society

biology morphology; form

chem the arrangement of atoms in a molecule of a chemical compoundthe structure of benzene

geology the way in which a mineral, rock, rock mass or stratum, etc, is made up of its component parts

rare the act of constructing

verb

(tr) to impart a structure to

Word Origin for structure

C15: from Latin structūra, from struere to build

Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

«Structure and function» is a fairly common pairing of words used in structural biology; is there some word that means the same as the both?

I’ve taken to using «anatomy and physiology»—»structure and function» applied to the macroscopic—but I feel that it requires some poetic license.

asked Jan 2, 2012 at 20:36

Nick T's user avatar

1

I’m not a biologist, but it seems to me structure and function/anatomy and physiology covers more or less everything in the field.

Here are over 8000 instances in Google Books for «the biology of the ear», and over 45,000 for «the biology of the liver». I’d be pretty sure they’re all about the structure/function of those organs.

TL;DR: «anatomy and physiology» is biology.

answered Jan 2, 2012 at 21:08

FumbleFingers's user avatar

FumbleFingersFumbleFingers

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5

IMHO, structure and function means everything except unorganized matter and energy. That makes the informational side/part of an item as opposet to the material one. And of course, any synonyms could be used — information, organization, system … I think, it is rather filosophical question. (of course, English too)

answered Jan 2, 2012 at 20:46

Gangnus's user avatar

GangnusGangnus

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Princeton’s WordNetRate this definition:3.7 / 6 votes

  1. structure, constructionnoun

    a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts

    «the structure consisted of a series of arches»; «she wore her hair in an amazing construction of whirls and ribbons»

  2. structurenoun

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

    «artists must study the structure of the human body»; «the structure of the benzene molecule»

  3. structurenoun

    the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations

    «his lectures have no structure»

  4. structure, anatomical structure, complex body part, bodily structure, body structurenoun

    a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing

    «he has good bone structure»

  5. social organization, social organisation, social structure, social system, structureverb

    the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships

    «the social organization of England and America is very different»; «sociologists have studied the changing structure of the family»

  6. structureverb

    give a structure to

    «I need to structure my days»

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

  1. structurenoun

    A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

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

  2. structurenoun

    The underlying shape of a solid.

    He studied the structure of her face.

  3. structurenoun

    The overall form or organization of something.

  4. structurenoun

    A set of rules defining behaviour.

    For some, the structure of school life was oppressive.

  5. structurenoun

    Several pieces of data treated as a unit.

    This structure contains both date and timezone information.

  6. structurenoun

    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.

  7. structurenoun

    A body, such as a political party, with a cohesive purpose or outlook.

    The South African leader went off to consult with the structures.

  8. structurenoun

    A set along with a collection of finitary functions and relations.

  9. structureverb

    To give structure to; to arrange.

Samuel Johnson’s DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. Structure

    Etymology: structure, Fr. structura, from structus, Latin.

    1. Act of building; practice of building.

    His son builds on, and never is content,
    Till the last farthing is in structure spent.
    John Dryden.

    2. Manner of building; form; make.

    Several have gone about to inform them, but for want of insight into the structure and constitution of the terraqueous globe, have not given satisfaction.
    John Woodward.

    3. Edifice; building.

    Ecbatana her structure vast there shews,
    And Hecatompylos her hundred gates.
    John Milton.

    High on a rock of ice the structure lay.
    Alexander Pope.

    There stands a structure of majestick frame.
    Alexander Pope.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. Structure

    A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as biological organisms, minerals and chemicals. Abstract structures include data structures in computer science and musical form. Types of structure include a hierarchy (a cascade of one-to-many relationships), a network featuring many-to-many links, or a lattice featuring connections between components that are neighbors in space.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

  1. Structurenoun

    the act of building; the practice of erecting buildings; construction

  2. Structurenoun

    manner of building; form; make; construction

  3. Structurenoun

    arrangement of parts, of organs, or of constituent particles, in a substance or body; as, the structure of a rock or a mineral; the structure of a sentence

  4. Structurenoun

    manner of organization; the arrangement of the different tissues or parts of animal and vegetable organisms; as, organic structure, or the structure of animals and plants; cellular structure

  5. Structurenoun

    that which is built; a building; esp., a building of some size or magnificence; an edifice

  6. Etymology: [L. structura, from struere, structum, to arrange, build, construct; perhaps akin to E. strew: cf. F. structure. Cf. Construe, Destroy, Instrument, Obstruct.]

FreebaseRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

  1. Structure

    Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society. From a child’s verbal description of a snowflake, to the detailed scientific analysis of the properties of magnetic fields, the concept of structure is now often an essential foundation of nearly every mode of inquiry and discovery in science, philosophy, and art. In early 20th-century and earlier thought, form often plays a role comparable to that of structure in contemporary thought. The neo-Kantianism of Ernst Cassirer is sometimes regarded as a precursor of the later shift to structuralism and poststructuralism.
    The description of structure implicitly offers an account of what a system is made of: a configuration of items, a collection of inter-related components or services. A structure may be a hierarchy, a network featuring many-to-many links, or a lattice featuring connections between components that are neighbors in space.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. Structure

    struk′tūr, n. manner of building: construction: a building, esp. one of large size: arrangement of parts or of particles in a substance: manner of organisation: an organic form.—adj. Struc′tūral, morphological.—n. Structūralisā′tion.—adv. Struc′tūrally, in a structural manner.—adjs. Struc′tured, having a certain structure; Struc′tureless.—adv. Struc′turely, in structure, by construction.—n. Struc′tūrist, one who rears structures. [L. structurastruĕre, structum, to build.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

  1. structure

    A number of materials, mechanisms, methods to construct.

    The structure of the house was known and created with efficiency.

    Submitted by MaryC on April 22, 2020  


  2. structure

    The various elements of a whole, how the elements connect and their purpose.

    The structure of the property is accurate and demonstrates excellent architectural structures.

    Submitted by MaryC on January 24, 2020  


  3. structure

    To feel, know and understand intuitively what is required and how every facet connects together and works.

    The organisation structure is logical, rational, easy and simple.

    Submitted by MaryC on January 24, 2020  

Matched Categories

    • Artifact
    • Cognition
    • Constitution
    • Organize

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word ‘structure’ in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #720

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word ‘structure’ in Written Corpus Frequency: #965

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word ‘structure’ in Nouns Frequency: #211

How to pronounce structure?

How to say structure in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of structure in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of structure in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of structure in a Sentence

  1. Phil Murphy:

    You look at this womans story, and it makes you sick — the lack of the structure in our society, the lack of respect for survivors, so, my goals are to figure out what happened, lets get our government policies the very best they can be, lets make New Jersey broadly … a society that people look up to and say, They respect survivors unlike anybody else. Lets keep politics out of it.

  2. Lin Ming-hui lawyer:

    He said he followed procedures. The project was so big he could not have done the structure or design all by himself.

  3. Cosan Chairman Rubens Ometto:

    We have a fantastic partnership with Shell. We are very happy, Shell is happy, nothing is going to change in the current structure.

  4. Tu Zhengfeng:

    We’re moving toward the structure of a global investment bank, it’s increasingly important to identify a company’s intrinsic value, and you need expertise to do that.

  5. Dirk Hebel:

    There are things surrounding us that can be used in a secondary life as a building structure.

Popularity rank by frequency of use


Translations for structure

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • هيكلArabic
  • структураBelarusian
  • структураBulgarian
  • estructuraCatalan, Valencian
  • strukturaCzech
  • strwythuroWelsh
  • strukturieren, StrukturGerman
  • strukturoEsperanto
  • estructuraSpanish
  • ساختارPersian
  • rakennelma, järjestelmä, rakenneFinnish
  • structureFrench
  • struchtúrIrish
  • dèanamh, togailScottish Gaelic
  • estruturaGalician
  • מתכונת, מבנה, תצורה, מסגרתHebrew
  • striktiHaitian Creole
  • struktúra, szervezet, felépítés, szerkezetHungarian
  • structuraInterlingua
  • byggingIcelandic
  • מבנהHebrew
  • 構造, 構造体Japanese
  • structureLatin
  • രൂപംMalayalam
  • struktur, rangkaMalay
  • structureren, structuurDutch
  • estruturar, registro, estruturaPortuguese
  • структураRussian
  • रूपम्Sanskrit
  • strukturera, strukturSwedish
  • структураUkrainian
  • cấu trúcVietnamese

Get even more translations for structure »

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Are we missing a good definition for structure? Don’t keep it to yourself…


Constructions : a construction grammar approach to argument structure.


The frequency of repetition across target structures varied.


A second paradigm focuses on the neural structures involved in either planning or control, respectively.


Because we are referring to an abstract structure, the individual differences in representation will not have an impact on ordinary speech.


Organic systems assimilate information about the world mediated by their internal structure.


Two contrasting dispersal models, one purely diffusive and one stratified, were then chosen to simulate colonization for the two contrasting initial genetic structures.


It is too bad that this purely internal data structure must be ‘mentioned’ in the interface.


One extension of this point returns us to the issue of institutional structures within civil society.


The spatial structure of the cross and its orientation are still clearly discernible, yet its size has been reduced significantly.


No discrepancy in the ability to define anatomic structure was encountered for the body or outflow regions of the right ventricle.


Past studies have focused on the effects of density on spoken language processing, rather than the effects of density on the structure of lexical representations.


It gives insight into the format of experts’ knowledge structures; experts turn out to use mainly frame representations.


Distributed representations of structure : a theory of analogical access and mapping.


The formal models that are consistent with a critical period rely on innate representations of abstract structure.


Regular secondary structure elements are represented in black.

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstructurestruc‧ture1 /ˈstrʌktʃə $ -ər/ ●●● S3 W2 AWL noun
 
 
1 [countable, uncountable]ORGANIZE the way in which the parts of something are connected with each other and form a whole, or the thing that these parts make upsocial/political/economic etc structure
 the social structure of organizations

 challenges to the existing power structure

 A new management structure has been introduced.
structure of
 the structure of the brain

 molecular structures
2 [countable]BUILD something that has been built, especially something large such as a building or a bridge
 a high wooden structure with a curved roof
3 [countable, uncountable]PLAN a situation where activities are carefully organized and planned
 These kids require a lot of structure and stability.
career structure1(1)COLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + structuresocial/political/economic structureMany changes had taken place in the social and political structure of the island.class structure (=the way society is organized according to people’s education, jobs, income etc)Britain had a very rigid class structure.power structure (=the way in which the group of people who control a country or organization are organized)He was a critic of the country’s power structure.management structure (=the way managers of a business are organized)Reform of the management structure was needed.career structure (=the way a profession is organized which allows you to move up and get better jobs)Teachers now have a proper career structure.basic structureThese genes are involved in determining the basic structure of cells.internal structureScientists have been investigating the internal structure of the planet Mars.molecular structureThe book tells of the race to find the molecular structure of DNA.


Examples from the CorpusstructureBut history and chance take place in a context, a structure, a reality.We should ask how such a structure would work.Many visitors to the UK find the British class structure difficult to understand.crystal structuresThe stone arch is one of the town’s oldest existing structures.It means accepting power as natural and necessary to decision making regardless of formal structure.A lack of structure is intrinsic to housework; thus a psychological structure is imported to it.She studied the organizational structure of the company to see whether it could be made more efficient.Instead they issue from the divided heart of humanity, perpetually institutionalised in sinful social and political structures.good sentence structureEach of these stages is an element in a complex societal structure and cultural context.The purpose of the structure immediately outside the temple was not so obvious.You need to be sure that the structure you plan to practice is a genuine structure in the language.The structure of the U.S. education system lacks centralization.The structure of the US banking system is changing.The station building was a high wooden structure with a curved roof.a three-story wooden structure


social/political/economic etc structureThey also study the economic and social structures, institutions and culture of the relevant countries.Most people have recognized that we impose social structures on ourselves in order to allow us to live together.Changes in social structure are said to be overdetermined by numerous contradictions.This impetus, in turn, gives social theory new insights into how individual selves negotiate larger social structures.Concepts borrowed from anthropology aid our understanding of social structure, while the techniques of physics enable us to date the past.Rules and codes bolting the social structure tightly into place.Having seized political power, the new ruling class presides over the transformation of the social structure.It is, most probably, a temporary agreement allowing both sides to regroup and develop their political structures and build support.structurestructure2 ●○○ AWL verb [transitive]
 
 
ORGANIZEto arrange the different parts of something into a pattern or system in which each part is connected to the others SYN organize
 The exhibition is structured around three topics.

 software that helps users structure their work and their data
→ See Verb tableExamples from the CorpusstructureThe programme is structured around periods of residential study supported by distance learning material.Police culture is omnipotent is structuring such views of critical research.I have structured the book so that the main points are revisited several times.Bidwell still has not decided how to structure the business.If we structure the meeting effectively, I think we should be able to cover everything.You need to structure your business along sound financial lines.
From Longman Business Dictionarystructurestruc‧ture /ˈstrʌktʃə-ər/ noun [countable, uncountable] the way an organization, system, market etc is organized or put togetherMr. Reed has set a course that ultimately will dismantle much of the bank’s huge bureaucratic structure.a complex structure of affiliated companies capital structure corporate structure cost structure highly leveraged capital structure matrix structureOrigin structure1 (1400-1500) Latin structura act of building, from struere to make into a pile, build

WORD STRUCTURE IN MODERN ENGLISH

  I.   The morphological structure of a word. Morphemes. Types of morphemes. Allomorphs.

II.   Structural types of words.

III.   Principles of morphemic analysis.

  IV.   Derivational level of analysis. Stems. Types of stems. Derivational types of words.

I.   The morphological structure of a word. Morphemes. Types of Morphemes.  Allomorphs.

There are two levels of approach to the study of word- structure: the level of morphemic analysis and the level of derivational or word-formation analysis.

Word is the principal and basic unit of the language system, the largest on the morphologic and the smallest on the syntactic plane of linguistic analysis.

It has been universally acknowledged that a great many words have a composite nature and are made up of morphemes, the basic units on the morphemic level, which are defined as the smallest indivisible two-facet language units.

The term morpheme is derived from Greek morphe “form ”+ -eme. The Greek suffix –eme has been adopted by linguistic to denote the smallest unit or the minimum distinctive feature.

The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of form. A form in these cases a recurring discrete unit of speech. Morphemes occur in speech only as constituent parts of words, not independently, although a word may consist of single morpheme. Even a cursory examination of the morphemic structure of English words reveals that they are composed of morphemes of different types: root-morphemes and affixational morphemes. Words that consist of a root and an affix are called derived words or derivatives and are produced by the process of word building known as affixation (or derivation).

The root-morpheme is the lexical nucleus of the word; it has a very general and abstract lexical meaning common to a set of semantically related words constituting one word-cluster, e.g. (to) teach, teacher, teaching. Besides the lexical meaning root-morphemes possess all other types of meaning proper to morphemes except the part-of-speech meaning which is not found in roots.

Affixational morphemes include inflectional affixes or inflections and derivational affixes. Inflections carry only grammatical meaning and are thus relevant only for the formation of word-forms. Derivational affixes are relevant for building various types of words. They are lexically always dependent on the root which they modify. They possess the same types of meaning as found in roots, but unlike root-morphemes most of them have the part-of-speech meaning which makes them structurally the important part of the word as they condition the lexico-grammatical class the word belongs to. Due to this component of their meaning the derivational affixes are classified into affixes building different parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs.

Roots and derivational affixes are generally easily distinguished and the difference between them is clearly felt as, e.g., in the words helpless, handy, blackness, Londoner, refill, etc.: the root-morphemes help-, hand-, black-, London-, fill-, are understood as the lexical centers of the words, and less, -y,      -ness, -er, re- are felt as morphemes dependent on these roots.

 Distinction is also made of free and bound morphemes.

Free morphemes coincide with word-forms of independently functioning words. It is obvious that free morphemes can be found only among roots, so the morpheme boy- in the word boy is a free morpheme; in the word undesirable there is only one free morpheme desire-; the word pen-holder has two free morphemes  pen- and hold-. It follows that bound morphemes are those that do not coincide with separate word- forms, consequently all derivational morphemes, such as –ness, -able, -er are bound. Root-morphemes may be both free and bound. The morphemes theor- in the words theory, theoretical, or horr- in the words horror, horrible, horrify; Angl- in  Anglo-Saxon; Afr- in Afro-Asian are all bound roots as there are no identical word-forms.

It should also be noted that morphemes may have different phonemic shapes. In the word-cluster please , pleasing , pleasure , pleasant the phonemic shapes of the word stand in complementary distribution or in alternation with each other. All the representations of the given morpheme, that manifest alternation are called allomorphs/or morphemic variants/ of that morpheme.

The combining form allo- from Greek allos “other” is used in linguistic terminology to denote elements of a group whose members together consistute a structural unit of the language (allophones, allomorphs). Thus, for example, -ion/ -tion/ -sion/ -ation are the positional variants of the same suffix, they do not differ in meaning or function but show a slight difference in sound form depending on the final phoneme of the preceding stem. They are considered as variants of one and the same morpheme and called its allomorphs.

Allomorph is defined as a positional variant of a morpheme occurring in a specific environment and so characterized by complementary description.

Complementary distribution is said to take place, when two linguistic variants cannot appear in the same environment.

Different morphemes are characterized by contrastive distribution, i.e. if they occur in the same environment they signal different meanings. The suffixes –able and –ed, for instance, are different morphemes, not allomorphs, because adjectives in –able mean “ capable of beings”.

Allomorphs will also occur among prefixes. Their form then depends on the initials of the stem with which they will assimilate.

Two or more sound forms of a stem existing under conditions of complementary distribution may also be regarded as allomorphs, as, for instance, in long a: length n.

II. Structural types of words.

The morphological analysis of word- structure on the morphemic level aims at splitting the word into its constituent morphemes – the basic units at this level of analysis – and at determining their number and types. The four types (root words, derived words, compound, shortenings) represent the main structural types of Modern English words, and conversion, derivation and composition the most productive ways of word building.

According to the number of morphemes words can be classified into monomorphic and polymorphic. Monomorphic or root-words consist of only one root-morpheme, e.g. small, dog, make, give, etc. All polymorphic word fall into two subgroups:  derived words and compound words – according to the number of root-morphemes they have. Derived words are composed of one root-morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes, e.g. acceptable, outdo, disagreeable, etc. Compound words are those which contain at least two root-morphemes, the number of derivational morphemes being insignificant. There can be both root- and derivational morphemes in compounds as in pen-holder, light-mindedness, or only root-morphemes as in lamp-shade, eye-ball, etc.

These structural types are not of equal importance. The clue to the correct understanding of their comparative value lies in a careful consideration of: 1)the importance of each type in the existing wordstock, and 2) their frequency value in actual speech. Frequency is by far the most important factor. According to the available word counts made in different parts of speech, we find that derived words numerically constitute the largest class of words in the existing wordstock; derived nouns comprise approximately 67% of the total number, adjectives about 86%, whereas compound nouns make about 15% and adjectives about 4%. Root words come to 18% in nouns, i.e. a trifle more than the number of compound words; adjectives root words come to approximately 12%.

But we cannot fail to perceive that root-words occupy a predominant place. In English, according to the recent frequency counts, about 60% of the total number of nouns and 62% of the total number of adjectives in current use are root-words. Of the total number of adjectives and nouns, derived words comprise about 38% and 37% respectively while compound words comprise an insignificant 2% in nouns and 0.2% in adjectives. Thus it is the root-words that constitute the foundation and the backbone of the vocabulary and that are of paramount importance in speech. It should also be mentioned that root words are characterized by a high degree of collocability and a complex variety of meanings in contrast with words of other structural types whose semantic structures are much poorer. Root- words also serve as parent forms for all types of derived and compound words.

III. Principles of morphemic analysis.

In most cases the morphemic structure of words is transparent enough and individual morphemes clearly stand out within the word. The segmentation of words is generally carried out according to the method of Immediate and Ultimate Constituents. This method is based on the binary principle, i.e. each stage of the procedure involves two components the word immediately breaks into. At each stage these two components are referred to as the Immediate Constituents. Each Immediate Constituent at the next stage of analysis is in turn broken into smaller meaningful elements. The analysis is completed when we arrive at constituents incapable of further division, i.e. morphemes. These are referred to Ultimate Constituents.

A synchronic morphological analysis is most effectively accomplished by the procedure known as the analysis into Immediate Constituents. ICs are the two meaningful parts forming a large linguistic unity.

The method is based on the fact that a word characterized by morphological divisibility is involved in certain structural correlations. To sum up: as we break the word we obtain at any level only ICs one of which is the stem of the given word. All the time the analysis is based on the patterns characteristic of the English vocabulary. As a pattern showing the interdependence of all the constituents segregated at various stages, we obtain the following formula:

un+ { [ ( gent- + -le ) + -man ] + -ly}

Breaking a word into its Immediate Constituents we observe in each cut the structural order of the constituents.

A  diagram presenting the four cuts described looks as follows:

1. un- / gentlemanly

2.   un- / gentleman / — ly

3.   un- / gentle / — man / — ly

4.   un- / gentl / — e / — man / — ly

A similar analysis on the word-formation level showing not only the morphemic constituents of the word but also the structural pattern on which it is built.

The analysis of word-structure at the morphemic level must proceed to the stage of Ultimate Constituents. For example, the noun friendliness is first segmented into the ICs: [frendlı-] recurring in the adjectives friendly-looking and friendly and [-nıs] found in a countless number  of nouns, such as unhappiness, blackness, sameness, etc. the IC [-nıs] is at the same time an UC of the word, as it cannot be broken into any smaller elements possessing both sound-form and meaning. Any further division of –ness would give individual speech-sounds which denote nothing by themselves. The IC [frendlı-] is next broken into the ICs [-lı] and [frend-] which are both UCs of the word.

Morphemic analysis under the method of Ultimate Constituents may be carried out on the basis of two principles: the so-called root-principle and affix principle.

According to the affix principle the splitting of the word into its constituent morphemes is based on the identification of the affix within a set of words, e.g. the identification of the suffix –er leads to the segmentation of words singer, teacher, swimmer into the derivational morpheme er  and the roots teach- , sing-, drive-.

According to the root-principle, the segmentation of the word is based on the identification of the root-morpheme in a word-cluster, for example the identification of the root-morpheme agree-  in the words agreeable, agreement, disagree.

As a rule, the application of these principles is sufficient for the morphemic segmentation of words.

However, the morphemic structure of words in a number of cases defies such analysis, as it is not always so transparent and simple as in the cases mentioned above. Sometimes not only the segmentation of words into morphemes, but the recognition of certain sound-clusters as morphemes become doubtful which naturally affects the classification of words. In words like retain, detain, contain or  receive, deceive, conceive, perceive the sound-clusters [rı-], [dı-] seem to be singled quite easily, on the other hand, they undoubtedly have nothing in common with the phonetically identical prefixes  re-, de- as found in words re-write, re-organize, de-organize, de-code. Moreover, neither the sound-cluster [rı-] or [dı-], nor the [-teın] or [-sı:v] possess any lexical or functional meaning of their own. Yet, these sound-clusters are felt as having a certain meaning because [rı-] distinguishes retain from detain and [-teın] distinguishes retain from receive.

It follows that all these sound-clusters have a differential and a certain distributional meaning as their order arrangement point to the affixal status of re-, de-, con-, per- and makes one understand —tain and –ceive as roots. The differential and distributional meanings seem to give sufficient ground to recognize these sound-clusters as morphemes, but as they lack lexical meaning of their own, they are set apart from all other types of morphemes and are known in linguistic literature as pseudo- morphemes. Pseudo- morphemes of the same kind  are also encountered in words like rusty-fusty.

IV.   Derivational level of analysis. Stems. Types of Stems. Derivational types of word.

The morphemic analysis of words only defines the constituent morphemes, determining their types and their meaning but does not reveal the hierarchy of the morphemes comprising the word. Words are no mere sum totals of morpheme, the latter reveal a definite, sometimes very complex interrelation. Morphemes are arranged according to certain rules, the arrangement differing in various types of words and particular groups within the same types. The pattern of morpheme arrangement underlies the classification of words into different types and enables one to understand how new words appear in the language. These relations within the word and the interrelations between different types and classes of words are known as derivative or word- formation relations.

The analysis of derivative relations aims at establishing a correlation between different types and the structural patterns words are built on. The basic unit at the derivational level is the stem.

The stem is defined as that part of the word which remains unchanged throughout its paradigm, thus the stem which appears in the paradigm (to) ask ( ), asks, asked, asking is ask-; thestem of the word singer ( ), singer’s, singers, singers’ is singer-. It is the stem of the word that takes the inflections which shape the word grammatically as one or another part of speech.

The structure of stems should be described in terms of IC’s analysis, which at this level aims at establishing the patterns of typical derivative relations within the stem and the derivative correlation between stems of different types.

There are three types of stems: simple, derived and compound.

Simple stems are semantically non-motivated and do not constitute a pattern on analogy with which new stems may be modeled. Simple stems are generally monomorphic and phonetically identical with the root morpheme. The derivational structure of stems does not always coincide with the result of morphemic analysis. Comparison proves that not all morphemes relevant at the morphemic level are relevant at the derivational level of analysis. It follows that bound morphemes and all types of pseudo- morphemes are irrelevant to the derivational structure of stems as they do not meet requirements of double opposition and derivative interrelations. So the stem of such words as retain, receive, horrible, pocket, motion, etc. should be regarded as simple, non- motivated stems.

Derived stems are built on stems of various structures though which they are motivated, i.e. derived stems are understood on the basis  of the derivative relations between their IC’s and the correlated stems. The derived stems are mostly polymorphic in which case the segmentation results only in one IC that is itself a stem, the other IC being necessarily a derivational affix.

Derived stems are not necessarily polymorphic.

Compound stems are made up of two IC’s, both of which are themselves stems, for example match-box, driving-suit, pen-holder, etc. It is built by joining of two stems, one of which is simple, the other derived.

In more complex cases the result of the analysis at the two levels sometimes seems even to contracted one another.

The derivational types of words are classified according to the structure of their stems into simple, derived and compound words.

Derived words are those composed of one root- morpheme and one or more derivational morpheme.

Compound words contain at least two root- morphemes, the number of derivational morphemes being insignificant.

Derivational compound is a word formed by a simultaneous process of composition and derivational.

Compound words proper are formed by joining together stems of word already available in the language.

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