construe

[ verb kuh n-stroo or, esp. British, kon-stroo; noun kon-stroo ]
/ verb kənˈstru or, esp. British, ˈkɒn stru; noun ˈkɒn stru /

verb (used with object), con·strued, con·stru·ing.

verb (used without object), con·strued, con·stru·ing.

to admit of grammatical analysis or interpretation.

noun

the act of construing.
something that is construed.

Origin of construe

1325–75; Middle English construen < Latin construere to put together, build, equivalent to con- con- + struere to pile up, arrange, perhaps akin to sternere to spread, strew; see stratum

OTHER WORDS FROM construe

con·stru·er, noun un·con·strued, adjective

Words nearby construe

constructive, constructive dismissal, constructive interference, constructivism, constructor, construe, consubstantial, consubstantiate, consubstantiation, consuela, consuetude

Words related to construing

translate, infer, interpret, define, parse, expound, render, read, explicate, understand, take, decipher, analyze

Example sentences from the Web for construing

British Dictionary definitions for construing

construe
/ (kənˈstruː) /

verb -strues, -struing or -strued (mainly tr)

to interpret the meaning of (something) you can construe that in different ways
(may take a clause as object) to discover by inference; deduce
to analyse the grammatical structure of; parse (esp a Latin or Greek text as a preliminary to translation)
to combine (words) syntactically
(also intr) old-fashioned to translate literally, esp aloud as an academic exercise

noun

old-fashioned something that is construed, such as a piece of translation

Derived forms of construe

construable, adjective construability, noun construer, noun

Word Origin for construe

C14: from Latin construere to pile up; see construct