Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - construct

 I. transitive verb  Etymology: Latin ~us, past participle of construere, from com- + struere to build — more at structure  Date: 1663  1. to make or form by combining or arranging parts or elements ; build; also contrive, devise  2. to draw (a geometrical figure) with suitable instruments and under specified conditions  3. to set in logical order  • ~ability also ~ibility noun  • ~able or ~ible adjective  • ~or noun  II. noun  Date: 1933  1. something ~ed by the mind: as  a. a theoretical entity the deductive study of abstract ~s — D. J. Boorstin  b. a working hypothesis or concept the unconscious was a ~ that came from the daily effort to understand patients  2. a product of ideology, history, or social circumstances privacy is more than a social ~ or an idea; it is a condition of the body — Sallie Tisdale