Construal

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kənˈstɹuːəl/

Definitions

1. The interpretation or understanding of something in a particular way, especially how someone perceives or explains the meaning of words, actions, or situations
2. The manner in which one makes sense of information or events, particularly regarding the subjective interpretation of communication, actions, and contextual situations
3. A specific way in which someone understands or explains a concept, often highlighting the individual perception related to language and behavior

Etymology: "Construal" is simply "construe" with the suffix "-al" attached. "Construe" itself came into English from Latin "construere", meaning "to pile up" or "to build", and over centuries it moved from the literal sense of arranging things into a structure to the sense of arranging words into a meaning, which is how we get the idea of translating or parsing a sentence. The suffix "-al" has a long road of its own. It descends from Latin "-ālis", an adjective-forming ending meaning "relating to", which passed through Old French and reached English in Middle English as "-al". English speakers have attached it to countless verbs and nouns, so it is a frequent and productive ending rather than a rare one. "Construal" therefore names the act or result of construing something: the particular way a person reads and makes sense of events, words, or behaviour. Its meaning grows directly out of "construe"'s older sense of working out what a sentence means, which is why the word now sits so comfortably in discussions of how people interpret situations.

Synonyms: interpretation, understanding, perception, view, explanation

Antonyms: misinterpretation, confusion