- The definition of construe is to explain or give the meaning of or to analyze or figure out.
- An example of construe is to put together a tale to explain missing money.
- An example of construe is to look at evidence to figure out who took the money.
transitive verbconstrued, construing
- to analyze (a sentence, clause, etc.) so as to show its syntactic construction and its meaning
- loosely to translate (a passage) orally
- to explain or deduce the meaning of; interpret: her silence was construed as agreement
- to infer or deduce
- Gram. to combine in syntax: the verb “let,” unlike “permit,” is construed with an infinitive omitting the “to”
Origin of construeMiddle English construen ; from Classical Latin construere: see construct
- to analyze sentence structure, esp. in translating
- to be able to be construed, as a sentence
verbcon·strued, con·stru·ing, con·strues
- To understand or explain the meaning of (something), especially in a particular way; interpret: The waiter construed my smile as assent. The editorial construed the act as irresponsible. See Synonyms at explain.
- Grammar a. To analyze the structure of (a clause or sentence).b. To use syntactically: The noun fish can be construed as singular or plural.
- To translate, especially aloud.
- To analyze grammatical structure.
- To be subject to grammatical analysis.
Origin of construeMiddle English construen, from Late Latin cōnstruere, from Latin, to build; see construct.
(third-person singular simple present construes, present participle construing, simple past and past participle construed)
From Late Latin construo (“to relate grammatically”), from Latin construo (“pile together”)
construe - Legal Definition