English
structure
Structure comes from Middle French structure, from Latin structūra ‘a fitting together, building’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to spread out’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strew-‘to strew, spread out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*strowōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstruōas struere‘to pile up; to build’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEstructūra‘a fitting together, building’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600structure
- Englishearliest quotation 1963same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strew-‘to strew, spread out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*strowōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstruōas struere‘to pile up; to build’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEstructūra‘a fitting together, building’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600structure
- Englishearliest quotation 1963same form
Earliest quotation: 1963, Margery Allingham, London: Chatto & Windus: “The original family who had begun to build a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to strew, to spread out’
strain, straw, stray, constructive, obstruction, obstruct, perestroika, stripling, misconstrue, 8 more
through Proto-Italic *strowō ‘to pile up’
through Latin struō ‘to place one thing on top of another, to pile…’
construction, destroy, instrument, destruction, instructor, construct, destructive, instruct, construe, 4 more
Today it means
noun A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *strew- / structure