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structure

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "structure", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "structure" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "structure" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

structure is aEnglishnoun. It means: A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts. Pronounced /ˈstɹʌk(t)ʃə(ɹ)/. It ranks #1,543 in English word frequency. Often confused with structured and structural.

Key facts for structure
PropertyValue
Headwordstructure
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈstɹʌk(t)ʃə(ɹ)/
Letters9
Frequency rank#1,543
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of structure in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for structure is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈstɹʌk(t)ʃə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,543 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for structure, with forms such as "srtucture", "sstructure", and "strcuture". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "structured", "structural", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French structure, from Latin structūra (“a fitting together, adjustment, building, erection, a building, edifice, structure”), from struere, past participle structus (“pile up, arrange, assemble, build”). Compare construct, instruct, destroy, etc. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is structure, spelled S-T-R-U-C-T-U-R-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.
  2. 2
    The underlying shape of a solid.
  3. 3
    The overall form or organization of something.
  4. 4
    A set of rules defining behaviour.
  5. 5
    Several pieces of data treated as a unit.
  6. 6
    Underwater terrain or objects (such as a dead tree or a submerged car) that tend to attract fish
  7. 7
    A body, such as a political party, with a cohesive purpose or outlook.
  8. 8
    A set along with a collection of finitary functions and relations.

Etymology

From Middle French structure, from Latin structūra (“a fitting together, adjustment, building, erection, a building, edifice, structure”), from struere, past participle structus (“pile up, arrange, assemble, build”). Compare construct, instruct, destroy, etc.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: srtucture,sstructure,strcuture,strructure,struccture,structrue,structture,structuer,structurre,strucutre,strutcure,sttructure,sturcture,tsructure

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for structure

Misspelling Variants of "structure"

srtucture9sstructure10strcuture9strructure10struccture10structrue9structture10structuer9
Misspelling Variants of "structure"

Frequency rank: #1,543 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "structure"?
"structure" is spelled S-T-R-U-C-T-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstɹʌk(t)ʃə(ɹ)/.
What does "structure" mean?
As a noun, "structure" means: A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.
What words are commonly confused with "structure"?
"structure" is commonly confused with "structured", "structural". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "structure"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "structure" is /ˈstɹʌk(t)ʃə(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "structure"?
From Middle French structure, from Latin structūra (“a fitting together, adjustment, building, erection, a building, edifice, structure”), from struere, past participle structus (“pile up, arrange, assemble, build”). Compare construct, instruct, d... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.