资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Structure \Struc"ture\, n. [L. structura, from struere,
   structum, to arrange, build, construct; perhaps akin to E.
   strew: cf. F. structure. Cf. {Construe}, {Destroy},
   {Instrument}, {Obstruct}.]
   1. The act of building; the practice of erecting buildings;
      construction. [R.]

            His son builds on, and never is content Till the
            last farthing is in structure spent.  --J. Dryden,
                                                  Jr.

   2. Manner of building; form; make; construction.

            Want of insight into the structure and constitution
            of the terraqueous globe.             --Woodward.

   3. Arrangement of parts, of organs, or of constituent
      particles, in a substance or body; as, the structure of a
      rock or a mineral; the structure of a sentence.

            It [basalt] has often a prismatic structure. --Dana.

   4. (Biol.) Manner of organization; the arrangement of the
      different tissues or parts of animal and vegetable
      organisms; as, organic structure, or the structure of
      animals and plants; cellular structure.

   5. That which is built; a building; esp., a building of some
      size or magnificence; an edifice.

            There stands a structure of majestic frame. --Pope.

   {Columnar structure}. See under {Columnar}.

Columnar \Co*lum"*nar\, a. [L. columnaris, fr. columna.]
   Formed in columns; having the form of a column or columns;
   like the shaft of a column.

   {Columnar epithelium} (Anat.), epithelium in which the cells
      are prismatic in form, and set upright on the surface they
      cover.

   {Columnar structure} (Geol.), a structure consisting of more
      or less regular columns, usually six-sided, but sometimes
      with eight or more sides. The columns are often fractured
      transversely, with a cup joint, showing a concave surface
      above. This structure is characteristic of certain igneous
      rocks, as basalt, and is due to contraction in cooling.