Structural

How to spell structural

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce structural

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does structural mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the way something is built, organised, or put together, especially its load-bearing framework.

Structural in a sentence

• The surveyor found serious structural damage in the old roof beams.

• The company announced a structural reorganisation of its sales teams.

Where does structural come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb struere, which meant 'to build, to pile up, or to arrange in order'. From that verb came the noun structura, describing the way something is built or fitted together, and English took 'structure' from it through French during the 1400s. The adjective 'structural' was then formed in English in the early 1800s by adding the suffix -al, meaning 'relating to', so it literally means 'relating to the way a thing is built'. The same struere root quietly sits inside a surprising family of everyday words, including 'construct', 'instruct', 'destroy', and 'industry'. Because the spelling keeps the full -struct- core followed by -ural, the trap for writers is the unstressed ending, where the vowel before the 'l' is an easily dropped schwa.

How the word is built

• struct- (from struere: to build, pile up)
• -ure (noun suffix)
• -al (adjective suffix)