v., -strued, -stru·ing, -strues.

v.tr.

1. To adduce or explain the meaning of; interpret: construed my smile as assent. See synonyms at explain.
2. Grammar.
   1. To analyze the structure of (a clause or sentence).
   2. To use syntactically: The noun fish can be construed as singular or plural.
3. To translate, especially aloud.

v.intr.

1. To analyze grammatical structure.
2. To be subject to grammatical analysis.

n. (kŏn'strū')

An interpretation or translation.

[Middle English construen, from Late Latin cōnstruere, from Latin, to build. See construct.]

construal con·stru'al n.

verb

1. To make understandable: decipher, explain, explicate, expound, interpret, spell out. Archaic enucleate. Idioms: put into plain English. See explain/baffle.
2. To understand in a particular way: interpret, read, take. See understand/misunderstand.
3. To express in another language, while systematically retaining the original sense: put, render, translate. See words.

To interpret a statute, case, regulation, treaty or other legal authority; construction requires the determination of the meaning of the language of the authority in light of the background of the authority, such as the legislative history of a statute or the particular facts of and cases leading to a particular case. 27 S.E. 133, 140.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has one meaning:

Meaning #1: make sense of; assign a meaning to
  Synonyms: interpret, see
  Also see: construe with (meaning #1)

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - opfatte, konstruere, forbinde, analysere, oversætte ord for ord
v. intr. - analysere
n. - fortolkning, oversættelse

Nederlands (Dutch)
interpreteren, grammaticaal combineren, zin ontleden, woordelijk vertalen, een woordelijke vertaling

Français (French)
v. tr. - interpréter, (École) faire une analyse grammaticale de (arch)
v. intr. - interpréter, (École) faire une analyse grammaticale de (arch), être analysé grammaticalement
n. - interprétation ou traduction

Deutsch (German)
v. - analysieren, zerlegen
n. - wörtliche Übersetzung

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ερμηνεύω, (γραμμ.) αναλύω ή τεχνολογώ (πρόταση), συντάσσω με (πτώση κ.λπ.)

Italiano (Italian)
interpretare, costruire, tradurre e commentare, fare l'analisi grammaticale

Português (Portuguese)
v. - construir (Gram.), explicar

Русский (Russian)
разбирать (предложение), вольно переводить, подразумевать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - construir, interpretar, analizar
v. intr. - construirse, interpretarse, analizarse
n. - construcción, sintaxis

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - tolka, konstruera (gram.), analysera, översätta ordagrant, göra en satsanalys

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
解释, 逐字翻译, 分析, 作句法分析

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 解釋, 逐字翻譯, 分析
v. intr. - 作句法分析
n. - 逐字翻譯

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - ~의 뜻으로 취하다, 축어적으로 번역하다, (문장의) 구성 요소를 분석하다
v. intr. - 해석되다, (문법상) 분석되다
n. - 문맥 해부, 직역

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 解釈する, 解剖する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) فسر, ترجم‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮ניתח משפט, פירש, תרגם בע"פ‬
v. intr. - ‮הבין‬
n. - ‮ניתוח תחבירי, תמליל שנותח תחבירית‬

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