struo

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *strowō, from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to strew, to spread out”). The stems of strūxī and strūctum (for the expected *strōvī and *strūtum) must be analogical on the model of fluō. Cognate with Old English strewian (English strew), Old Norse strá.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈstru.oː/, [ˈs̠t̪ruoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈstru.o/, [ˈst̪ruːo]

Verb

struō (present infinitive struere, perfect active strūxī, supine strūctum); third conjugation

1. to place one thing on top of another, to pile up, join together

   Synonyms: cumulō, accumulō, exstruō, onerō, inaedificō, colligō

2. to compose, construct, build

   Synonyms: aedificō, exaedificō, inaedificō, cōnstituō, cōnstruō, condō, compōnō, fundō, statuō, exstruō, mōlior

3. (transferred) to ready, prepare, devise, design, contrive, arrange, plot, aim at, accomplish, to make or do a plan, purpose, intent, or course of action

   Synonyms: inveniō, māchinor, comminīscor

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.271:

     “Quid struis? Aut quā spē Libycīs teris ōtia terrīs?”

     “What do you think you are doing? Or with what [false] hope are you wasting idle hours in the lands of Libya?”
     (Aeneas is overseeing building projects in Carthage just as Mercury arrives to confront him; Mercury’s criticism, however, is less about the physical construction than it is about self-deception. Other translations: West, 1990: “What do you have in mind?”; Fagles, 2006: “What are you plotting now?”; Bartsch, 2020: “What’s your plan?”)

4. to place, arrange

   Synonyms: pōnō, collocō, locō, sistō, statuō, cōnstituō

5. to heap up, load with

   Synonym: acervō

Usage notes

In Classical texts, the only passive forms for this verb are the third-person singular and plural. Please note that there is a disagreement over whether the root vowel is short or long in the third and fourth principal parts and the verb forms based on these (strūxī for struxī and strūctum for structum).

Conjugation

Conjugation of struō (third conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	struō	struis	struit	struimus	struitis	struunt
	imperfect	struēbam	struēbās	struēbat	struēbāmus	struēbātis	struēbant
	future	struam	struēs	struet	struēmus	struētis	struent
	perfect	strūxī	strūxistī	strūxit	strūximus	strūxistis	strūxērunt, strūxēre
	pluperfect	strūxeram	strūxerās	strūxerat	strūxerāmus	strūxerātis	strūxerant
	future perfect	strūxerō	strūxeris	strūxerit	strūxerimus	strūxeritis	strūxerint
passive	present	struor	strueris, struere	struitur	struimur	struiminī	struuntur
	imperfect	struēbar	struēbāris, struēbāre	struēbātur	struēbāmur	struēbāminī	struēbantur
	future	struar	struēris, struēre	struētur	struēmur	struēminī	struentur
	perfect	strūctus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	strūctus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	strūctus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	struam	struās	struat	struāmus	struātis	struant
	imperfect	struerem	struerēs	strueret	struerēmus	struerētis	struerent
	perfect	strūxerim	strūxerīs	strūxerit	strūxerīmus	strūxerītis	strūxerint
	pluperfect	strūxissem	strūxissēs	strūxisset	strūxissēmus	strūxissētis	strūxissent
passive	present	struar	struāris, struāre	struātur	struāmur	struāminī	struantur
	imperfect	struerer	struerēris, struerēre	struerētur	struerēmur	struerēminī	struerentur
	perfect	strūctus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	strūctus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	strue	—	—	struite	—
	future	—	struitō	struitō	—	struitōte	struuntō
passive	present	—	struere	—	—	struiminī	—
	future	—	struitor	struitor	—	—	struuntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		struere	strūxisse	strūctūrum esse	struī	strūctum esse	strūctum īrī
participles		struēns	—	strūctūrus	—	strūctus	struendus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		struendī	struendō	struendum	struendō	strūctum	strūctū

Derived terms

• astruō
• circumstruō
• cōnstruō
• dēstruō
• exstruō
• instruō
• interstruō
• obstruō
• perstruō
• praestruō
• restruō
• strūctūra
• substruō
• superstruō

 

Descendants

• → Welsh: ystryw

Further reading

• “struo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “struo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• struo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to waylay a person: insidias alicui parare, facere, struere, instruere, tendere
    
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN