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construe

con·strue
C c

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [verb kuh n-stroo or, esp. British, kon-stroo; noun kon-stroo]
    • /verb kənˈstru or, esp. British, ˈkɒn stru; noun ˈkɒn stru/
    • /kənˈstruː/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [verb kuh n-stroo or, esp. British, kon-stroo; noun kon-stroo]
    • /verb kənˈstru or, esp. British, ˈkɒn stru; noun ˈkɒn stru/

Definitions of construe word

  • verb construe If something is construed in a particular way, its nature or meaning is interpreted in that way. 3
  • verb construe to interpret the meaning of (something) 3
  • verb construe to discover by inference; deduce 3
  • verb construe to analyse the grammatical structure of; parse (esp a Latin or Greek text as a preliminary to translation) 3
  • verb construe to combine (words) syntactically 3
  • verb construe to translate literally, esp aloud as an academic exercise 3

Information block about the term

Origin of construe

First appearance:

before 1325
One of the 16% oldest English words
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

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Construe

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

construe popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 89% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

construe usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for construe

verb construe

  • translate — to turn from one language into another or from a foreign language into one's own: to translate Spanish.
  • infer — to derive by reasoning; conclude or judge from premises or evidence: They inferred his displeasure from his cool tone of voice.
  • interpret — to give or provide the meaning of; explain; explicate; elucidate: to interpret the hidden meaning of a parable.
  • define — to describe the nature, properties, or essential qualities of
  • render — to cause to be or become; make: to render someone helpless.

Antonyms for construe

verb construe

  • misunderstand — to take (words, statements, etc.) in a wrong sense; understand wrongly.
  • obscure — (of meaning) not clear or plain; ambiguous, vague, or uncertain: an obscure sentence in the contract.
  • fail — to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved: The experiment failed because of poor planning.
  • cloud — A cloud is a mass of water vapour that floats in the sky. Clouds are usually white or grey in colour.
  • confuse — If you confuse two things, you get them mixed up, so that you think one of them is the other one.

Top questions with construe

  • what does construe mean?
  • what is construe?
  • what is the meaning of construe?

See also

Matching words

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