Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Construe

Con·strue (?; Archaic ?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Construed (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Construing (#).] [L. construere: cf. F. construire. See Construct.] 1. To apply the rules of syntax to (a sentence or clause) so as to exhibit the structure, arrangement, or connection of, or to discover the sense; to explain the construction of; to interpret; to translate.

2. To put a construction upon; to explain the sense or intention of; to interpret; to understand.

Thus we are put to construe and paraphrase our own words to free ourselves either from the ignorance or malice of our enemies. Bp. Stilingfleet.

And to be dull was construed to be good. Pope.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.