1. an anthropological theory that there are unobservable social structures that generate observable social phenomena • Syn: structural anthropology • Hypernyms: theory • Part Holonyms: anthropology 2. linguistics defined as the analysis of formal structures in a text or discourse • Syn: structural linguistics • Hypernyms: linguistics 3. a sociological theory based on the premise that society comes before individuals • Syn: structural sociology • Hypernyms: theory • Part Holonyms: sociology