construction 
2. The way or form in which a thing is built 
or made ; the manner of putting together the 
parts, as of a building, a ship, a machine, or a 
system; structure. 
An astrolabe of peculiar construction. Whewett. 
3. That which is constructed ; a structure. 
The period when these old constructions [mounds] were 
deserted is ... far back in the past. 
J. V. Baldivin, Anc. America, p. 51. 
4. In geom., a figure drawn so as to satisfy 
given conditions ; the method of drawing such 
a figure with given mathematical instruments, 
especially with rule and compasses. 
Propositions in geometry appear in a double form : they 
express that a certain figure, drawn in a certain way, sat- 
isfies certain conditions, or they require a figure to be so 
constructed that certain conditions are satisfied. The 
first form is the theorem, the second the problem, of con- 
struction. Petersen, tr. by Haagensen. 
Two simple harmonic motions at right angles to one 
another, and having the same period and phase, may be 
compounded into a single simple harmonic motion by a 
construction precisely the same as that of the rectangular 
parallelogram of velocities. 
A. Daniell, Prin. of Physics, p. 89. 
5. In gram., syntax, or the arrangement and 
connection of words in a sentence according to 
established usages or the practice of good writ- 
ers and speakers ; syntactical arrangement. 
What else there is, he jumbles together in such a lost 
construction as no man, either letter'd or unletter'd, will 
be able to piece up. Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus. 
6. The act of construing; the manner of un- 
derstanding or construing the arrangement of 
words, or of explaining facts ; attributed sense 
or meaning; explanation; interpretation. 
He shall find the letter ; observe his construction of it. 
Shalt., T. N., ii. 3. 
Foul wresting, and impossible construction. 
B. Jonson, Sejanus, iii. 1. 
Wherein I have heretofore been faulty, 
Let your constructions mildly pass it over, 
Ford, Broken Heart, iv. 2. 
Religion . . . produces good will towards men, and 
puts the mildest construction upon every accident that 
befalls. Spectator, No. 483. 
Specifically 7. In law : (a) Interpretation; in- 
telligent reading with explanation, such as to de- 
fine the meaning. (b) An altered reading of the 
text of an instrument, designed to make clear an 
ambiguity or uncertainty in its actual expres- 
sion, or to show its application to, or exclusion 
of, matters which upon its face are not clearly 
included or excluded. 8. Naut., the method 
of ascertaining a ship's course by means of 
trigonometrical problems and diagrams. 9. 
In music, the composition of a work according 
to an appreciable plan. 10. In the Kantian 
philos., a synthesis of arbitrarily formed con- 
ceptions Construction of equations, in alg., the 
construction of a figure representing the equation or equa- 
tions. Pregnant construction. See pregnant. 
constructional (kou-struk'shon-al), a. [< con- 
struction + -al.] Pertaining to construction, in 
any sense of that word; specifically, deduced 
from construction or interpretation. 
Symbolical grants and constructional conveyances. 
Waterland, Charge on the Eucharist, p. 40. 
But iron no longer greatly interests us except for interior 
constructional expedients. The Century, XXVIII. 511. 
COnstructionally (kpn-struk'shpn-al-i), adv. 1. 
In a constructional manner or use ; in construc- 
tion. 
The use of wood constructionally should be discarded. 
Workshop Receipts, 2d ser., p. 292. 
2. With reference to verbal construction; by 
construing. 
COnstructionist (kon-struk'shon-ist), n. [< 
construction + -ist.~\ One who construes or 
interprets law or the terms of an agreement, 
etc.: generally with a limiting adjective. 
Strict COnstructionist, one who favors exact and rigid 
construction, as of laws ; specifically, in U. S. hist., one who 
advocates a strict construction of the provisions of the 
Constitution of the United States, with especial reference 
to the rights of the individual States. The Anti-Federalist 
party, the Democratic Republicans who succeeded them, 
and the Democratic party have in general been strict con- 
structionists : the Federalists, Whigs, and modern Repub- 
licans have been chiefly broad or loose constructionists. 
construction-way (kou-struk'shon-wa), n. A 
temporary way or road employed for the trans- 
. portation of the materials used in constructing 
a railroad. 
constructive (kon-struk'tiv), a. [= OF. and 
P. construct!/ = Pr. constructiu = Pg. construc- 
tivo, < L. as if "constructivus, < constructus, pp. 
of construere, construct: see construct, .] 1. 
Capable of constructing, or of being employed 
in construction ; formative ; shaping. 
The constructive fingers of Watt, Fulton, Arkwright. 
Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 36. 
1218 
Emerson was not a great philosopher, because he had no 
constructive talent, he could not build a system of phi- 
losophy. The Century, XXVII. 925. 
2. Relating or pertaining to the act or process 
of construction; of the nature of construction. 
He [Markquard] brought in the received constructive 
form of his day. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 65. 
Architectural ornament is of two kinds, constructive and 
decorative. By the former are meant all those contrivances, 
such as capitals, brackets, vaulting shafts, and the like, 
which serve to explain or give expression to the construc- 
tion. J. Feryusson, Hist. Arch., I. 31. 
Statistics are the backbone of constructive history. 
The Athenaeum, Jan. 14, 1888, p. 47. 
3. Affirmative ; inferring a result from a rule 
and the subsumption of a case under the rule : 
applied to arguments. 4. Deduced by con- 
struction or interpretation; not directly ex- 
pressed, but inferred; imputed, in contradis- 
tinction to actual : applied, in law, to that which 
amounts in the eye of the law to an act ? irre- 
spective of whether it was really and inten- 
tionally performed. 
Stipulations, expressed or implied, formal or construc- 
tive. Paley. 
The doctrine of constructive treason was terribly exem- 
plified in the cases of Burdett, Stacy, and Walker. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist., 373. 
Constructive contempt, delivery, dilemma, escape, 
eviction, fraud, imprisonment, malice, mileage, no- 
tice, trust, etc. See the nouns. Constructive total 
loss, in marine insurance, occurs when the thing insured 
and damaged is not actually wholly lost, but recovery is 
highly improbable, or recovery and repairs would cost 
more than the thing would be worth after being repaired. 
A right to recover against the insurers for a constructive 
total loss is secured by notice of abandonment given by 
the owners to the insurers. 
constructively (kon-struk'tiv-li), adv. In a con- 
structive manner. Specifically (a) By way of con- 
struction or interpretation; by fair inference. 
A neutral should have had notice of a blockade, either 
actually, by a formal notice from the blockading power, or 
constructively, by notice to his government. 
Chancellor Kent, Com., I. 147. 
Ceremonials may be immoral in themselves, or construc- 
tively immoral on account of their known symbolism. 
W. K. Cli/ord, Lectures, II. 214. 
(b) For the purpose of building or construction. 
The Babylonians and Assyrians never seem to have used 
stone constructively, except as the revetment of a terrace 
wall. J. Feryusson, Hist. Arch., I. 188. 
constructiveness (kon - struk ' tiv - nes), n. In 
pliren., the tendency to construct in general, 
supposed not to be an independent faculty, but 
to take its particular direction from other fac- 
ulties. It is said to be large in painters, sculp- 
tors, mechanicians, and architects. See cut 
under phrenology. 
constructor (kon-struk'tor), n. [= F. construc- 
teur (> D. konstrukteur = Dan. konstruktor) = 
Sp. Pg. constructor = It. costruttore, < ML. con- 
structor, < L. construere, pp. constructus, build, 
construct: see construct, v.] 1. One who con- 
structs or makes ; specifically, a builder. 
A constructor of dials. Johnson, Rambler, No. 103. 
Social courage is exactly the virtue in which the con- 
structors of a government will always think themselves 
least able to indulge. J. Morley, Burke, p. 140. 
At present no question is exciting more attention among 
our constructors than that of the strength of materials. 
Science, III. 312. 
2f. One who- constructs or interprets. 
Seeing no power but death can stop the chat of ill 
tongues, nor imagination of mens minds, lest my owne 
relations of those hard euents might by some constructors 
bee made doubtful!, I haue thought it best to insert the 
examinations of those proceedings. 
Capt. John Smith, True Travels, II. 208. 
Sometimes written constructer. 
Chief constructor, in naval administration, the officer 
charged with the general supervision of construction for 
the navy. In the United States he is the head of the 
Bureau of Construction and Repairs in the Navy Depart- 
ment. 
constructure (kon-struk'tur), n. [< OF. con- 
structure = It. costruttura, < ML. *constructura, < 
L. construere, construct: see construct, and cf. 
structure.] If. Construction; structure; fabric. 
They shall the earth's constructure closely bind. 
Blackmore. 
2. In Scots law, a mode of industrial accession, 
whereby, if a house be repaired with the ma- 
terials of another, the materials accrue to the 
owner of the house, full reparation, however, 
being due to the owner of the materials. 
construe (kon'stro or kon-stro'), v. t.; pret. and 
pp. construed, ppr. construing. [Early mod. E. 
often conster; < ME. construen, conatrewen, con- 
strue, interpret, < L. construere, construe, con- 
struct: see construct, v.] 1. To arrange the 
words of in their natural order; reduce the 
words of from a transposed to a natural order, 
consubstantiation 
so as to demonstrate the sense; hence, inter- 
pret, and, when applied to a foreign language, 
translate : as, to construe a sentence ; to con- 
strue Greek, Latin, or French. 
Children beeth compelled for to leve hire owne langage, 
and for to construe hir lessouns and here thynges in 
Frenche. . . . Now [A. D. 1387] ... in alle the gramere 
scoles of Engelond, children leveth Frenche, and constru- 
eth and lerneth an [in] Englische. 
Trevisa, tr. of Higden's Polychronicon, ii. 159. 
He [Virgil] is so very figurative that he requires, I may 
almost say, a grammar apart to construe him. 
Dryden, Pref . to Second M iso. 
Hence 2. To interpret; explain; show or un- 
derstand the meaning of ; render. 
If prophetic fire 
Have warm'd this old man's bosom, we might construe 
His words to fatal sense. Ford, Broken Heart, iv. 1. 
His [Stuyvesant's] haughty refusal to submit to the ques- 
tioning of the commissioners was construed into a con- 
sciousness of guilt. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 299. 
Syn. Interpret, Render, etc. (see translate). Construe, 
Construct. "To construe means to interpret, to show the 
meaning; to construct means to build : we may construe a 
sentence, as in translation, or construct it, as in composi- 
tion." A. S. Hill, Rhetoric, p. 50. 
constupratet (kon'stu-prat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
constuprated, ppr. constupratiny, [< L. constu- 
pratus, pp. of constnprare, < com- (intensive) + 
stuprare, ravish, < stuprum, defilement.] To 
violate; debauch; deflower. Burton. 
COnstuprationt (kon-stu-pra'shon), n. [= F. 
constupration (obs.), < L. as if *constupratio(n-), 
< constuprare, pp. constiipratus, ravish : see con- 
stupratc.~\ The act of ravishing; violation; de- 
filement. Sp. Hall. 
COnsubsist (kon-sub-sisf), i'. i. [< con- + sub- 
sist."] To subsist together. [Bare.] 
Two consubsisting wills. 
A. Tucker, Light of Nature, II. xxvi. 
consubstantial (kon-sub-stan'shal), a. [=F. 
consubstantiel = Sp. consustancial = Pg. consub- 
stancial = It. consustanziale, < LL. consubstan- 
tialis, < L. com-, together, + substantia, sub- 
stance : see substance, substantial.] Having the 
same substance or essence ; coessential. 
Christ Jesus . . . coeternal and consubstantial with the 
Father and with the Holie Ghost. 
Bradford, in Foxe's Martyrs, p. 1058. 
" Consubstantial with the Father " is nothing more than 
" really one with the Father," being adopted to meet the 
evasion of the Arians. 
J. H. Newman, Gram, of Assent, p. 138. 
COUSUbstantialism (kon-sub-stan'shal-izm), n. 
[< consubstantial + -ism.] The doctrine of con- 
substantiation. 
consubstantialist (kon-sub-stan'shal-ist), n. 
[< consubstantial + -ist.] One who believes that 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost exist 
in consubstantiation. 
consubstantiality (kon-sub-stan-shi-al'i-ti), n. 
[= F. consubsta ittialite = Sp. consustancialidad 
= Pg. consubstancialidade = It. consustanzialita, 
< LL. consubstantialitu(t-)s, < consubstantialis, 
consubstantial: see consubstantial.] The qual- 
ity of being consubstantial ; existence in the 
same substance ; participation in the same na- 
ture: as, the coeternityandcos&stoia/%of 
the Son with the Father. 
Can the answerer himself unriddle the secrets of the 
Incarnation, fathom the undivided Trinity, or the consub- 
stantiality of the Eternal Son, with all his readings and ex- 
aminations ? Dryden, Duchess of York's Paper Defended. 
COnsubstantially (kon-sub-stan'shal-i), adv. 
In a consubstantial manner. 
consubstantiate (kon-sub-stan'shi-at), v.; pret. 
and pp. consubstantiatfd, ppr. consubstantiating. 
[< NL. consubstantiatus, pp. of consubstantiare, 
(. L. com-, together, + substantia, substance : see 
substance, substantiate, and cf. consubstantial.] 
I. trans. To unite in one common substance 
or nature, or regard as so united. [Rare.] 
They are driven to consubstantiate and incorporate 
Christ with elements sacramental, or to transubstantiate 
and change their substance into his ; and so the one to 
hold him really, but invisibly, moulded up with the sub- 
stance of these elements the other to hide him under 
the only visible shew of bread and wine, the substance 
whereof, as they imagine, is abolished, and his succeeded 
in the same room. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 67 (Ord MS.). 
II. intrans. To profess the doctrine of eon- 
substantiation. 
The ciinxvlatantiatinff Church and priest 
Refuse communion to the Calvinist. 
Drtide.il, Hind and Panther, 1. 1026. 
consubstantiate (kon-sub-stan'shi-at), a. [< 
NL.consiilxtantiatHit, pp. : see the verb.] Same 
as consubstantial. Feltham. 
Consubstantiation (kon-sub-stan-shi-a'shon), 
. [= F. consubstiintiation = Sp. constistanci- 
acion = Pg. consvbstanCMg&o = It. consustooizi- 
