constructor

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

Proto-Indo-European *ster-

Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃-

Proto-Indo-European *strew-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *stréweti

Proto-Italic *strowō

Latin struō

Latin cōnstruō

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Medieval Latin -or

Medieval Latin cōnstrūctorbor.

English constructor

Borrowed from Medieval Latin cōnstrūctor, from Latin cōnstruō + Medieval Latin -or. By surface analysis, construct +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈstɹʌktɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈstɹʌktə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧struct‧or

Noun

constructor (plural constructors)

1. A person who, or thing that, constructs.

   Antonym: destructor

   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 134:

     All this time the great work over which South Australia was spending large sums of money, aided by unceasing efforts on the part of her telegraph constructors, was going on.

   • 1981, Norma Gleason, Cryptograms and Spygrams, Courier Corporation, →ISBN, page 7:

     It's a big help in solving cryptograms if you know how a cryptogram is constructed. The constructor normally uses two alphabets, one for plaintext, one for the substitute cipher letters.

2. (automotive) A company which, or individual who, builds racing vehicles. In Formula One, constructor status is strictly defined by the rules, but in other motorsports the term is merely a descriptor. Depending on the racing rules, some constructors (e.g. Cosworth) may provide vehicles to racing teams who are not themselves constructors, while others are both teams and constructors (Ducati Corse, Scuderia Ferrari).
3. (object-oriented programming) A class method that creates and initializes each instance of an object.

   Antonym: destructor

4. (crosswording, chiefly US) A person who creates crossword puzzles.

   Synonyms: (chiefly UK) setter, compiler

Hyponyms

• (object-oriented programming): copy constructor, default constructor, empty constructor, nullary constructor

Derived terms

• bioconstructor

Related terms

• (object-oriented programming): constructorless

Translations

one who constructs

• Bashkir: төҙөүсе (töźöwse)
• Belarusian: канстру́ктар m (kanstrúktar)
• Czech: konstruktér m
• Finnish: rakentaja (fi)
• Polish: konstruktor (pl) m pers, konstruktorka f
• Russian: констру́ктор (ru) m (konstrúktor), (builder) строи́тель (ru) m (stroítelʹ)
• Ukrainian: констру́ктор m (konstrúktor), (builder) будіве́льник (uk) m (budivélʹnyk)

in automotive: someone who builds racing vehicles

• Finnish: rakentaja (fi)
• French: écurie (fr) f
• Polish: konstruktor (pl) m pers, konstruktorka f

in object oriented programming: code that creates objects

• Bulgarian: констру́ктор (bg) m (konstrúktor)
• Czech: konstruktor m
• Esperanto: konstruilo
• Finnish: konstruktori, muodostin, rakentaja (fi)
• French: constructeur (fr) m
• German: Konstruktor (de) m
• Greek: κατασκευαστής (el) m (kataskevastís)
• Hebrew: פעולה בונה (pe'ulah bonah)
• Italian: costruttore (it) m
• Japanese: コンストラクタ (ja) (konsutorakuta), 構築子 (こうちくし, kōchikushi) (rare)
• Korean: 생성자(生成子) (saengseongja)
• Polish: konstruktor (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: construtor (pt) m
• Russian: констру́ктор (ru) m (konstrúktor)
• Swedish: konstruktor c
• Ukrainian: констру́ктор m (konstrúktor)
• Vietnamese: hàm khởi tạo

Further reading

• constructor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French constructeur.

Noun

constructor m (plural constructori, feminine equivalent constructoare)

1. constructor, builder

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	constructor	constructorul	constructori	constructorii
genitive-dative	constructor	constructorului	constructori	constructorilor
vocative	constructorule		constructorilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin cōnstructor (“builder”), from Latin cōnstruere (“build, pile together”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konstɾuɡˈtoɾ/ [kõns.t̪ɾuɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: cons‧truc‧tor

Adjective

constructor (feminine constructora, masculine plural constructores, feminine plural constructoras)

1. constructing

Noun

constructor m (plural constructores, feminine constructora, feminine plural constructoras)

1. constructor, builder

Further reading

• “constructor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025