structure

struc·ture

S0819000 (strŭk′chər)n.1. Something made up of a number of parts that are held or put together in a particular way: hierarchical social structure.2. The way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole; makeup: triangular in structure.3. The interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entity: political structure; plot structure.4. Something constructed, such as a building.5. Biology a. The arrangement or formation of the tissues, organs, or other parts of an organism.b. An organ or other part of an organism.tr.v. struc·tured, struc·tur·ing, struc·tures To give form or arrangement to: structure a curriculum; structure one's day.

[Middle English, the process of building, from Latin strūctūra, from strūctus, past participle of struere, to construct; see ster- in Indo-European roots.]

structure

(ˈstrʌktʃə) n1. a complex construction or entity2. the arrangement and interrelationship of parts in a construction, such as a building3. the manner of construction or organization: the structure of society. 4. (Biology) biology morphology; form5. (Chemistry) chem the arrangement of atoms in a molecule of a chemical compound: the structure of benzene. 6. (Geological Science) geology the way in which a mineral, rock, rock mass or stratum, etc, is made up of its component parts7. rare the act of constructingvb (tr) to impart a structure to[C15: from Latin structūra, from struere to build]

struc•ture

(ˈstrʌk tʃər)

n., v. -tured, -tur•ing. n. 1. the manner in which something is constructed. 2. the manner in which the elements of anything are organized or interrelated: the structure of a poem; the structure of protein. 3. something constructed, as a building or bridge. 4. anything composed of organized or interrelated elements. 5. the construction and arrangement of body parts, tissues, or organs. 6. a. the attitude of a bed or stratum or of beds or strata of sedimentary rocks, as indicated by the dip and strike. b. the coarser composition of a rock, as contrasted with its texture. 7. the manner in which atoms in a molecule are joined to each other, esp. as represented in organic chemistry. 8. the pattern or system of beliefs, relationships, institutions, etc., in a social group or society. v.t. 9. to give a structure to; organize. [1400–50; late Middle English < Latin structūra=struct(us), past participle of struere to put together + -ūra -ure] struc′ture•less, adj.

structure

Past participle: structured
Gerund: structuring

Imperative
structure
structure

Present
I structure
you structure
he/she/it structures
we structure
you structure
they structure

Preterite
I structured
you structured
he/she/it structured
we structured
you structured
they structured

Present Continuous
I am structuring
you are structuring
he/she/it is structuring
we are structuring
you are structuring
they are structuring

Present Perfect
I have structured
you have structured
he/she/it has structured
we have structured
you have structured
they have structured

Past Continuous
I was structuring
you were structuring
he/she/it was structuring
we were structuring
you were structuring
they were structuring

Past Perfect
I had structured
you had structured
he/she/it had structured
we had structured
you had structured
they had structured

Future
I will structure
you will structure
he/she/it will structure
we will structure
you will structure
they will structure

Future Perfect
I will have structured
you will have structured
he/she/it will have structured
we will have structured
you will have structured
they will have structured

Future Continuous
I will be structuring
you will be structuring
he/she/it will be structuring
we will be structuring
you will be structuring
they will be structuring

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been structuring
you have been structuring
he/she/it has been structuring
we have been structuring
you have been structuring
they have been structuring

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been structuring
you will have been structuring
he/she/it will have been structuring
we will have been structuring
you will have been structuring
they will have been structuring

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been structuring
you had been structuring
he/she/it had been structuring
we had been structuring
you had been structuring
they had been structuring

Conditional
I would structure
you would structure
he/she/it would structure
we would structure
you would structure
they would structure

Past Conditional
I would have structured
you would have structured
he/she/it would have structured
we would have structured
you would have structured
they would have structured

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	structure - 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"constructionartefact, artifact - a man-made object taken as a wholeairdock, hangar, repair shed - a large structure at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintainedaltar - a raised structure on which gifts or sacrifices to a god are madearcade, colonnade - a structure composed of a series of arches supported by columnsarch - (architecture) a masonry construction (usually curved) for spanning an opening and supporting the weight above itarea - a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function; "the spacious cooking area provided plenty of room for servants"balcony - a platform projecting from the wall of a building and surrounded by a balustrade or railing or parapetbalcony - an upper floor projecting from the rear over the main floor in an auditoriumbascule - a structure or device in which one end is counterbalanced by the other (on the principle of the seesaw)boarding - a structure of boardsbody - the external structure of a vehicle; "the body of the car was badly rusted"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; "there was a three-story building on the corner"; "it was an imposing edifice"building complex, complex - a whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structurescatchment - a structure in which water is collected (especially a natural drainage area)coil, helix, volute, whorl, spiral - a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops; "a coil of rope"colonnade - structure consisting of a row of evenly spaced columnspillar, column - a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument)quoin, corner - (architecture) solid exterior angle of a building; especially one formed by a cornerstonecross - a wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a transverse piecedeathtrap - any structure that is very unsafe; where people are likely to be killeddefensive structure, defence, defense - a structure used to defend against attack; "the artillery battered down the defenses"door - a structure where people live or work (usually ordered along a street or road); "the office next door"; "they live two doors up the street from us"entablature - (architecture) the structure consisting of the part of a classical temple above the columns between a capital and the rooferection - a structure that has been erectedestablishment - a public or private structure (business or governmental or educational) including buildings and equipment for business or residencefalse bottom - a horizontal structure that partitions a ship or box (especially one built close to the actual bottom)storey, floor, story, level - a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale; "what level is the office on?"understructure, groundwork, substructure, base, foundation, fundament, foot - lowest support of a structure; "it was built on a base of solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower"fountain - a structure from which an artificially produced jet of water arisesguide - a structure or marking that serves to direct the motion or positioning of somethingcardcastle, cardhouse, card-house, house of cards - an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"housing, living accommodations, lodging - structures collectively in which people are housedhull - the frame or body of shipjungle gym - a structure of vertical and horizontal rods where children can climb and playlamination - a layered structurelanding place, landing - structure providing a place where boats can land people or goodslookout station, observation tower, observatory, lookout - a structure commanding a wide view of its surroundingsmasonry - structure built of stone or brick by a masonmonument, memorial - a structure erected to commemorate persons or eventshill, mound - structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones; "they built small mounds to hide behind"impedimenta, obstruction, obstructor, obstructer, impediment - any structure that makes progress difficult
	2.	structure - 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"infrastructure, substructure - the basic structure or features of a system or organizationcomputer architecture, architecture - (computer science) the structure and organization of a computer's hardware or system software; "the architecture of a computer's system software"cytoarchitectonics, cytoarchitecture - the cellular composition of a bodily structurefabric, framework - the underlying structure; "providing a factual framework for future research"; "it is part of the fabric of society"physical composition, composition, make-up, makeup, constitution - the way in which someone or something is composed
	3.	structure - the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations; "his lectures have no structure"cognition, knowledge, noesis - the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoningorganization, arrangement, organisation, system - an organized structure for arranging or classifying; "he changed the arrangement of the topics"; "the facts were familiar but it was in the organization of them that he was original"; "he tried to understand their system of classification"pattern, form, shape - a perceptual structure; "the composition presents problems for students of musical form"; "a visual pattern must include not only objects but the spaces between them"phrase structure, sentence structure, syntax - the grammatical arrangement of words in sentencessound structure, syllable structure, word structure, morphology - the admissible arrangement of sounds in words
	4.	structure - a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing; "he has good bone structure"anatomical structure, bodily structure, body structure, complex body partlayer - thin structure composed of a single thickness of cellsapodeme - ridge-like ingrowth of the exoskeleton of an arthropod that supports internal organs and provides attachment points for musclescaliculus, calycle, calyculus - a small cup-shaped structure (as a taste bud or optic cup or cavity of a coral containing a polyp)tooth - toothlike structure in invertebrates found in the mouth or alimentary canal or on a shellpad - the fleshy cushion-like underside of an animal's foot or of a human's fingerbranchial cleft, gill cleft, gill slit - one of a series of slit openings in the pharynxes of fishes and aquatic amphibians through which water passesbranchial arch, gill arch, gill bar - one of the bony or cartilaginous arches on each side of the pharynx that support the gills of fishes and aquatic amphibiansperistome - region around the mouth in various invertebratessyrinx - the vocal organ of a birdbody part - any part of an organism such as an organ or extremitybulb - a rounded dilation or expansion in a canal or vessel or organcarina - any of various keel-shaped structures or ridges such as that on the breastbone of a bird or that formed by the fused petals of a pea blossomcauda - any taillike structurechiasm, chiasma, decussation - an intersection or crossing of two tracts in the form of the letter Xcingulum - (anatomy) an encircling structure (as the ridge around the base of a tooth)concha - (anatomy) a structure that resembles a shell in shapefilum, filament - a threadlike structure (as a chainlike series of cells)germ - a small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organisminfundibulum - any of various funnel-shaped parts of the body (but especially the hypophyseal stalk)interstice - a small structural space between tissues or parts of an organ; "the interstices of a network"landmark - an anatomical structure used as a point of origin in locating other anatomical structures (as in surgery) or as point from which measurements can be takenlimbus - a border or edge of any of various body parts distinguished by color or structurerib - a riblike supporting or strengthening part of an animal or plantblade - a broad flat body part (as of the shoulder or tongue)radicle - (anatomy) a small structure resembling a rootlet (such as a fibril of a nerve)plexus, rete - a network of intersecting blood vessels or intersecting nerves or intersecting lymph vesselstube-shaped structure, tube - (anatomy) any hollow cylindrical body structurepassageway, passage - a path or channel or duct through or along which something may pass; "the nasal passages"fundus - (anatomy) the base of a hollow organ or that part of the organ farthest from its opening; "the uterine fundus"; "the fundus of the stomach"funiculus - any of several body structure resembling a cordhead - that part of a skeletal muscle that is away from the bone that it movesbodily cavity, cavum, cavity - (anatomy) a natural hollow or sinus within the bodytooth root, root - the part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as supportcapsule - a structure that encloses a body partuvea - the part of the eye that contains the iris and ciliary body and choroidlens nucleus, nucleus - the central structure of the lens that is surrounded by the cortexmembranous labyrinth - the sensory structures of the inner ear including the labyrinthine receptors and the cochlea; contained within the bony labyrinthbony labyrinth, osseous labyrinth - cavity in the petrous part of the temporal bone that contains the membranous labyrinthglans - a small rounded structure; especially that at the end of the penis or clitorisalveolar bed - lung tissue densely packed with alveolivalve - a structure in a hollow organ (like the heart) with a flap to insure one-way flow of fluid through itvascular structure - a structure composed of or provided with blood vesselslacrimal apparatus - the structures that secrete and drain tears from the eyecytoskeleton - a microscopic network of actin filaments and microtubules in the cytoplasm of many living cells that gives the cell shape and coherencenucleolar organiser, nucleolar organizer, nucleolus organiser, nucleolus organizer - the particular part of a chromosome that is associated with a nucleolus after nuclear divisioncentromere, kinetochore - a specialized condensed region of each chromosome that appears during mitosis where the chromatids are held together to form an X shape; "the centromere is difficult to sequence"
	5.	structure - 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"social organisation, social organization, social structure, social systemsociety - an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organizationfeudal system, feudalism - the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th century; vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in warpatriarchy, patriarchate - a form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male linematriarchate, matriarchy - a form of social organization in which a female is the family head and title is traced through the female linemeritocracy - a form of social system in which power goes to those with superior intellectspluralism - a social organization in which diversity of racial or religious or ethnic or cultural groups is toleratedform of government, political system - the members of a social organization who are in powerclass structure - the organization of classes within a societyseparatism, segregation - a social system that provides separate facilities for minority groupssystem, scheme - a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole; "a vast system of production and distribution and consumption keep the country going"
Verb	1.	structure - give a structure to; "I need to structure my days"reconstitute, restructure - construct or form anew or provide with a new structure; "After his accident, he had to restructure his life"; "The governing board was reconstituted"coordinate, organise, organize - bring order and organization to; "Can you help me organize my files?"

structure

noun1. arrangement, form, make-up, make, design, organization, construction, fabric, formation, configuration, conformation, interrelation of parts The chemical structure of this particular molecule is very unusual.2. building, construction, erection, edifice, pile The house was a handsome four-storey brick structure.verb1. arrange, organize, design, shape, build up, assemble, put together You have begun to structure your time.

structure

nounA usually permanent construction, such as a house or store:building, edifice, pile.verbTo create by combining parts or elements:build, compose, configure, form, pattern, shape.

Translations

结构建筑物构造

structure

(ˈstraktʃə) noun1. the way in which something is arranged or organized. A flower has quite a complicated structure; the structure of a human body. 结构，构造 2. a building, or something that is built or constructed. The Eiffel Tower is one of the most famous structures in the world.建筑物ˈstructural adjective of structure. You must get permission before making structural alterations to your house.结构上的ˈstructurally adverb在结构上

structure

→ 结构zhCN

structure

1. Biology morphology; form 2. Chem the arrangement of atoms in a molecule of a chemical compound 3. Geology the way in which a mineral, rock, rock mass or stratum, etc., is made up of its component parts

Structure

The completed building envelope on the site, externally and internally complete, including all operating systems ready for their interior furnishings.

structure

any arrangement of elements into a definite pattern. e.g. any institutionalized social arrangements (ROLES, ORGANIZATIONS etc.) e.g. the ‘educational’ or ‘occupational structure’ (see also SOCIAL STRUCTURE. STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM).
the rules (or ‘deep structure’) underlying and responsible for the production of a surface structure (especially structures analogous to GRAMMAR) (see also LINGUISTICS, LÉVISTRAUSS). For GIDDENS (1984), for example, 'structure’ in this latter sense refers to ‘rules and resources’, implicated in the reproduction of social systems (see also STRUCTURATION, STRUCTURATION THEORY). The distinction (sense 1 and 2) drawn between 'surface’ and ‘deep structures’ is also an important one in STRUCTURALISM (senses 3 and 5).

Major criticisms are made by theorists from the SYMBOLIC INTERACTION, SOCIAL PHENOMENOLOGY and HERMENEUTIC traditions, who argue that sociology must make central human actors’ involvement in the creation and recreation of the social world through symbolic meaning. People, not structures, can be seen as creating social order. Even if structures are treated as ‘rules’, then these also are created by people.

A compromise between theories of structure and theories of meaning has often been attempted by social theorists. In the 1960s P. L. Berger and associates proposed a ‘dialectical’ theory of the 'social construction of reality’, in which 'social structure is not characterizable as a thing able to stand on its own, apart from the human activity that produced it’, but, once created, ‘is encountered by the individual (both) as an alien facticity (and) … as a coercive instrumentality’ (Berger and Pullberg, 1966). A humanly constructed reality only comes to take on the appearance of having been constructed by some external, non-human, force. GIDDENS’ more recent proposal that 'structures’ can always in principle be examined in terms of their structuration ‘as a series of reproduced practices’ (Giddens, 1976b), and that structures are ‘both constraining and enabling’, is another example of an approach offering a compromise between theories of action and theories of structure (see DUALITY OF STRUCTURE, STRUCTURATION, STRUCTURATION THEORY). see also STRUCTURE AND AGENCY.

Structure

the totality of stable relationships in an object that ensure its integrity and self-identity, that is, the preservation of basic properties despite various external and internal changes.

In a broader, looser sense, the concept of structure has been used in science and philosophy at least since the Middle Ages and has served as a means of defining the concept of form—meant as the structure or the organization of content. In its narrow sense, the concept of structure was first developed in chemistry, in the 19th century, with the emerging theory of the chemical structure of matter.

In 1890 the Austrian psychologist C. von Ehrenfels described what he called gestalt properties—perceptual structures that refer to the perceived object as a whole and that cannot be explained in terms of the properties of separate elements; such are, for example, the properties of a chord in music or of a melody that are preserved in transposition. This formulation gave impetus to research on the independent role of psychostructure, to which Gestalt psychology made a significant contribution. In the 20th century, the analysis of structural relationships and connections has become a prime concern in the study of language, of ethnic communities, of literature and art, and of culture as a whole. As a result, specific methods have been adopted in the study of different types of structure, as for example in structuralism, structural linguistics, structural literary analysis, and structural-functional analysis.

In modern science, the concept of structure is usually related to the concepts of system and organization. While there is no common agreement on the interrelations of these concepts, in most cases the concept of system is regarded as the broadest. System represents all the manifestations of a given complex object, including its elements and the arrangement of its parts as well as connections and functions; structure is only that which remains stable and relatively unchanged through various transformations of the system; and organization includes both the structural and the dynamic characteristics of a system that ensure its purposeful operation.

Given the essential role of structural links and relations, the study of structure has acquired major importance in a whole series of scientific problems. Not infrequently, this leads to an incorrect juxtaposition between structure and some other feature of an object—most often, its history—and thus to a virtual abso-lutization of a one-sided approach to the object. In reality, however, the structural and the historical approach are not mutually exclusive, since each is oriented to the study of connections of a particular type. On the one hand, then, it is perfectly legitimate to posit the question of independent study, for specific aims, of either the structure of an object (as in various ecological, linguistic, and sociological problems) or its history (where the processes of development of an object are the immediate subject of research). On the other hand, however, there is no barrier in principle between structural and historical research: at some point the study of structure inevitably makes it necessary to understand the laws governing structural changes as well—namely, the history of a given structure; and the study of history becomes strictly scientific only insofar as it succeeds in revealing the structure of a developing object and the structure of the developmental process itself. K. Marx’ study of the historical laws of society exemplified precisely such an organic relationship between the historical and the structural approach.

Dialectical materialism regards structure as a category that, while important for modern knowledge, can reveal its heuristic meaning only in close association with the entire system of dialectical categories.

REFERENCES

Sviderskii, V. I. O dialektike elementov i struktury v ob”ektivnom mire i vpoznanii. Moscow, 1962.
Val’t, L. O. “Sootnoshenie struktury i elementov.” Voprosy filosofii, 1963, no. 5.
Ovchinnikov, N. F. “Struktura i simmetriia.” In Sistemnye issledovaniia: Ezhegodnik—1969. Moscow, 1969.
Blauberg, I. V., and E. G. Iudin. Stanovlenie i sushchnost’ sistemnogo podkhoda. Moscow, 1973. Chapter 4, sec. 3.

N. F. OVCHINNIKOV and E. G. IUDIN

structure

[′strək·chər] (aerospace engineering) The construction or makeup of an airplane, spacecraft, or missile, including that of the fuselage, wings, empennage, nacelles, and landing gear, but not that of the power plant, furnishings, or equipment. (civil engineering) Something, as a bridge or a building, that is built or constructed and designed to sustain a load. (computer science) For a data-processing system, the nature of the chain of command, the origin and type of data collected, the form and destination of results, and the procedures used to control operations. (geology) An assemblage of rocks upon which erosive agents have been or are acting. The sum total of the structural features of an area. (mineralogy) The form taken by a mineral, such as tabular or fibrous. (petrology) A macroscopic feature of a rock mass or rock unit, best seen in an outcrop. (science and technology) The arrangement and interrelation of the parts of an object.

Structure (engineering)

An arrangement of designed components that provides strength and stiffness to a built artifact such as a building, bridge, dam, automobile, airplane, or missile. The artifact itself is often referred to as a structure, even though its primary function is not to support but, for example, to house people, contain water, or transport goods. See Airplane, Automobile, Bridge, Buildings, Dam

The primary requirements for structures are safety, strength, economy, stiffness, durability, robustness, esthetics, and ductility. The safety of the structure is paramount, and it is achieved by adhering to rules of design contained in standards and codes, as well as in exercising strict quality control over all phases of planning, design, and construction. The structure is designed to be strong enough to support loads due to its own weight, to human activity, and to the environment (such as wind, snow, earthquakes, ice, or floods). The ability to support loads during its intended lifetime ensures that the rate of failure is insignificant for practical purposes. The design should provide an economical structure within the constraints of all other requirements. The structure is designed to be stiff so that under everyday conditions of loading and usage it will not deflect or vibrate to an extent that is annoying to the occupants or detrimental to its function. The materials and details of construction have durability, such that the structure will not corrode, deteriorate, or break under the effects of weathering and normal usage during its lifetime. A structure should be robust enough to withstand intentional or unintentional misuse (for example, fire, gas explosion, or collision with a vehicle) without totally collapsing. A structural design takes into consideration the community's esthetic sensibilities. Ductility is necessary to absorb the energy imparted to the structure from dynamic loads such as earthquakes and blasts. See Construction engineering, Engineering design

Common structural materials are wood, masonry, steel, reinforced concrete, aluminum, and fiber-reinforced composites. Structures are classified into the categories of frames, plates, and shells, frequently incorporating combinations of these. Frames consist of “stick” members arranged to form the skeleton on which the remainder of the structure is placed. Plated structures include roof and floor slabs, vertical shear walls in a multistory building, or girders in a bridge. Shells are often used as water or gas containers, in roofs of arenas, or in vehicles that transport gases and liquids. The connections between the various elements of a structure are made by bolting, welding or riveting. See Composite material, Concrete, Structural materials

structure

1. A combination of units constructed and so interconnected, in an organized way, as to provide rigidity between its elements. 2. Any edifice.

structure

In programming, a structure is two or more variables of the same or different types that is typically used to hold a data record (row). See variable and array of structures.

structure

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REFERENCES

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Synonyms for structure

noun arrangement

Synonyms

noun building

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verb arrange

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Synonyms for structure

noun a usually permanent construction, such as a house or store

Synonyms

verb to create by combining parts or elements

Synonyms

Synonyms for structure

noun a thing constructed

Synonyms

Related Words

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

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noun the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations

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noun a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing

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

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verb give a structure to

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