Definition of "construe"

construe

/kənˈstɹuː/

noun
plural construes
1. A translation.
2. An interpretation.
verb
third-person singular simple present construes, present participle construing, simple past and past participle construed
1. (transitive) To understand (something) as meaning, to take to mean.
  Quotations
  Bru[tus]. […] But let not therefore my good Friends be greeu'd (Among which number Cassius be you one) Nor conſtrue any further my neglect, Then that poore Brutus with himſelfe at warre, Forgets the ſhews of Loue to other men.The metre requires the obsolete pronunciation cónstrue
  1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i], page 110, column 1
  The world must construe according to its wits; this court must construe according to the law.
  1954, Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons
2. (transitive) To interpret (something) to another or publicly, explain the meaning (of something), usually language.
  Quotations
  This is a new fashionable proverb, which I must construe to you.
  1750, “To [Sir Horace Mann], Feb. 25. — Ministerial quarrels […] ”, in The Letter of Horace Walpole, Earl of Oxford, volume II, London: Richard Betley, New Burlington Street, published 1840, page 319
3. (grammar, transitive) To analyze the grammatical structure of a clause or sentence; to parse.
  Quotations
  Thus, in a sentence such as: (113) John considers [S Fred to be too sure of himself] the italicised Reflexive himself can only be construed with Fred, not with John: this follows from our assumption that non-subject Reflexives must have an antecedent within their own S. Notice, however, that in a sentence such as: (114) John seems to me [S — to have perjured himself] himself must be construed with John.
  1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 8, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 436
4. (grammar, ergative) To admit of grammatical analysis.
5. (transitive) To translate.
6. To infer.
7. (obsolete) To explain.
  Quotations
  Bru[tus]. […] Portia go in a while, And by and by thy boſome ſhall partakeThe ſecrets of my Heart.All my engagements, I will construe to thee, All the Charractery of my ſad browes.
  1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i], page 116, column 2

Definition of "construe"

construe

noun

verb

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Quotations

Quotations

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