construe

[ verb kuhn-stroo; noun kon-stroo ]

verb (used with object)

, con·strued, con·stru·ing.

1. to give the meaning or intention of; explain; interpret.
2. to deduce by inference or interpretation; infer:

   He construed her intentions from her gestures.

3. to translate, especially orally.
4. to analyze the syntax of; to rehearse the applicable grammatical rules of:

   to construe a sentence.

5. to arrange or combine (words, phrases, etc.) syntactically.

verb (used without object)

, con·strued, con·stru·ing.

1. to admit of grammatical analysis or interpretation.

noun

1. the act of construing.
2. something that is construed.

construe

/ kənˈstruː /

verb

1. to interpret the meaning of (something)

   you can construe that in different ways

2. may take a clause as object to discover by inference; deduce
3. to analyse the grammatical structure of; parse (esp a Latin or Greek text as a preliminary to translation)
4. to combine (words) syntactically
5. old-fashioned.
   also intr to translate literally, esp aloud as an academic exercise

noun

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

Derived Forms

• conˌstruaˈbility, noun
• conˈstruable, adjective
• conˈstruer, noun

Other Words From

• con·stru·er noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of construe¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English construen, from Latin construere “to put together, build,” equivalent to con- con- + struere “to pile up, arrange,” perhaps akin to sternere “to spread, scatter”; strew, stratum

Word History and Origins

Origin of construe¹

C14: from Latin construere to pile up; see construct

Example Sentences

That has been construed as a threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

From BBC

But in her ruling, Judge Chutkan argued that if she had kept the files under wraps, that could itself have been construed as election interference.

From BBC

Yu’s report called on the police department to ban “‘rites of passage’ that might be construed as hazing or disparate treatment towards probationary officers.”

From Los Angeles Times

“HB 1069 requires school librarians to remove books that contain anything that can be construed as ‘sexual conduct,’ with no consideration of the educational value of the work as a whole.

From Salon

Lee however remained undeterred by her illness and summoned the gumption and self-confidence to return to the mat after a brief hiatus, brushing aside the narrowly construed frameworks of athleticism.

From Salon

Related Words

• define
• infer
• interpret
• parse
• translate