construe

• conster (obsolete)

From Middle English construen, from Late Latin construo, construere (“to relate grammatically”), from Latin construo (“pile together”); doublet of construct.

• IPA^(key): /kənˈstɹuː/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnstəɹ/[1]

construe (plural construes)

1. A translation.
2. An interpretation.

construe (third-person singular simple present construes, present participle construing, simple past and past participle construed)

1. (transitive) To interpret or explain the meaning of something.
   • 1954, Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons:

     The world must construe according to its wits; this court must construe according to the law.

2. (grammar, transitive) To analyze the grammatical structure of a clause or sentence; to parse.
   • 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 8, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 436:

     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.

3. (grammar, ergative) To admit of grammatical analysis.
4. (transitive) To translate.
5. To infer.

• construal
• construance
• construction
• misconstrue

• Counters, Cutrones, cornutes, counters, countres, recounts, trounces

cōnstrue

1. second-person singular present active imperative of cōnstruō