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Origin and history of structure

structure(n.)

mid-15c.; the sense might be "building materials" or "action or process of building or construction," either way it is obsolete. From 1610s as "that which is built, an edifice," especially if large or imposing.

It is from Latin structura "a fitting together, adjustment; a building, mode of building;" figuratively, "arrangement, order," from structus, past participle of struere "to pile, place together, heap up; build, assemble, arrange, make by joining together," related to strues "heap" (from PIE *streu-, extended form of root *stere- "to spread").

It is attested from 1610s as "arrangement of parts," also "the frame or character of an organization." By late 17c. it was used in the broadest sense of "anything put together;" it is attested from 1746 in reference to literary works, by 1961 in linguistics.

structure(v.)

"to form into a structure, put together systematically," by 1855 (occasional use from late 16c.), from structure (n.). Related: Structured; structuring.

also from 1855

Entries linking to structure

structured(adj.)

"that has a structure," in any sense, 1810, past-participle adjective from structure (v.). The specific meaning "organized so as to produce (desired) results" is from 1959.

infrastructure(n.)

1887, from French infrastructure (1875); see infra- + structure (n.). The installations that form the basis for any operation or system. Originally in a military sense.

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construction
late 14c., construccioun, "act of construing; manner of understanding the arrangement of words in translation" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin constructionem (nominative constructio) "a putting or placing together, a building," noun of action from past-participle stem of const
anatomy
late 14c., "study or knowledge of the structure and function of the human body" (learned by dissection); c. 1400, "anatomical...structure," from Old French anatomie and directly from Late Latin anatomia, from late Greek anatomia for classical anatomē...(1580s), and "skeleton" (1590s) were primary senses of this word in Shakespeare's day; the meaning "the science of the structure...
monument
sepulchre," from Old French monument "grave, tomb, monument," and directly from Latin monumentum "a monument, memorial structure...Meaning "any enduring evidence or example" is from 1520s; sense of "structure or edifice to commemorate a notable person,...
paradigm
In 20c. it began to be used in the more specific philosophical sense of "logical or conceptual structure serving as a form...of thought within a given area of experience," especially in Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (1962...
demolition
1540s, figurative, "destruction, overthrow;" 1610s, literal, "action of pulling down or destroying (a structure); fact of...of demoliri "to tear down," from de "down" (see de-) + moliri "build, construct," from moles (genitive molis) "massive structure...
frame
"a structure composed according to a plan," from frame (v.) and in part from Scandinavian cognates (Old Norse frami "advancement...Meaning "sustaining parts of a structure fitted together" is from c. 1400....
cupola
Hence "the rounded top of any structure."...In colloquial use, the cupola is often considered as a diminutive dome, or the name is specifically applied to a small structure...
establishment
late 15c., "settled arrangement," also "income, property," from establish + -ment. Meaning "established church" is from 1731; Sense of "place of business" is from 1832. Meaning "social matrix of ruling people and institutions" is attested occasionally from 1923, consistently from
odor
c. 1300, "sweet smell, scent, fragrance," from Anglo-French odour, from Old French odor "smell, perfume, fragrance" (12c., Modern French odeur) and directly from Latin odor "a smell, a scent" (pleasant or disagreeable), from PIE root *hed- "to smell" (source also of Latin olere "
door
"movable barrier, commonly on hinges, for closing a passage into a building, room, or other enclosure," c. 1200, a Middle English merger of two Old English words, both with the general sense of "door, gate": dor (neuter; plural doru) "large door, gate," and duru (fem., plural dur

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