constructive

 
Pronunciation: /kənˈstrʌktɪv/

adjective

  • 1having or intended to have a useful or beneficial purpose: constructive advice
  • 2 Law not obvious or stated explicitly; derived by inference: constructive liability
  • 3 Mathematics relating to, based on, or denoting mathematical proofs which show how an entity may in principle be constructed or arrived at in a finite number of steps.

Derivatives

constructively

adverb

constructiveness

noun

Origin:

mid 17th century (in constructive (sense 2)): from late Latin constructivus, from Latin construct- 'heap together', from the verb construere (see construct)