structure: Meaning and Definition of

struc•ture

Pronunciation: (struk'chur), [key]
— n., v., -tured, -tur•ing.
—n.
  1. mode of building, construction, or organization; arrangement of parts, elements, or constituents: a pyramidal structure.
  2. something built or constructed, as a building, bridge, or dam.
  3. a complex system considered from the point of view of the whole rather than of any single part: the structure of modern science.
  4. anything composed of parts arranged together in some way; an organization.
  5. the relationship or organization of the component parts of a work of art or literature: the structure of a poem.
  6. mode of organization; construction and arrangement of tissues, parts, or organs.
    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.
  7. the manner in which atoms in a molecule are joined to each other, esp. in organic chemistry where molecular arrangement is represented by a diagram or model.
    1. the system or complex of beliefs held by members of a social group.
    2. the system of relations between the constituent groups of a society.
    3. the relationship between or the interrelated arrangement of the social institutions of a society or culture, as of mores, marriage customs, or family.
    4. the pattern of relationships, as of status or friendship, existing among the members of a group or society.
  8. the pattern of organization of a language as a whole or of arrangements of linguistic units, as phonemes, morphemes or tagmemes, within larger units.
—v.t.
  1. to give a structure, organization, or arrangement to; construct a systematic framework for.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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