Dictionary

constituent en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /kənˈstɪt͡ʃuənt/
• (UK) audio
• /kənˈstɪtjuənt/

Etymology

From Latin cōnstituēns, present participle of cōnstituō (“to establish”), from com- (“together”) + statuō (“to set, place, establish”).

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Being a part or component of a whole.
   • Body, soul, and reason are the three parts necessarily constituent of a man. 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:
2. (not-comparable) Constitutive or constituting.
   • In the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, three of the Soviet Union's fifteen constituent republics, last year's most dangerous fantasies have been sanctioned by the government itself. 1989 May, Priit J. Vesilind, “The Baltic: Arena of Power”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 604:
   • The skeleton varies in the proportions, and even to a certain extent in the connexions, of its constituent bones. 1863, Thomas Henry Huxley, Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature, London: Williams and Norgate, page 143:
3. (not-comparable) Constitutive or constituting. ▸ Authorized to make a constitution.
   • the Constituent Assembly
   • A question of right arises between the constituent and representative body. 1769, Junius, letter on 19 December, 1769, (part of Letters of Junius)

Deriveds

subconstituent · multiconstituent · bioconstituent · constituently · nonconstituent · phytoconstituent · macroconstituent · microconstituent · biconstituent

Relateds

constitute · constitutive · constitution · constituency · constitutional

Translations (31)

de verfassunggebend (authorized to make a constitution) · ca constituent (authorized to make a constitution) · de konstituierend (authorized to make a constitution) · hu összetevő (being a part, or component of a whole) · sv ingående (being a part, or component of a whole) · pt constituinte (authorized to make a constitution) · fi perustuslakia säätävä (authorized to make a constitution) · ca constituent (being a part, or component of a whole) · hu alkotmányozó (authorized to make a constitution) · es constituyente (authorized to make a constitution) · nn konstituerande (being a part, or component of a whole) · pl ustawodawczy (authorized to make a constitution) · it costituente (authorized to make a constitution) · nb konstituerende (being a part, or component of a whole) · fr constituant (being a part, or component of a whole) · hy բաղադրիչ (being a part, or component of a whole) · de fest (being a part, or component of a whole) · hu alkotó (being a part, or component of a whole) · it costituente (being a part, or component of a whole) · pl składowy (being a part, or component of a whole) · fi aineksena oleva (being a part, or component of a whole) · pt constituinte (being a part, or component of a whole) · bg учредителен (authorized to make a constitution) · de ausmachend (being a part, or component of a whole) · cmn 成分 (being a part, or component of a whole) · bg съставен от (being a part, or component of a whole) · de Bestand- (being a part, or component of a whole) · fr constituant (authorized to make a constitution) · sv konstituerande (authorized to make a constitution) · gl constituínte (being a part, or component of a whole) · de satzungsgebend (authorized to make a constitution)

constituent en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /kənˈstɪt͡ʃuənt/
• (UK) audio
• /kənˈstɪtjuənt/

Etymology

From Latin cōnstituēns, present participle of cōnstituō (“to establish”), from com- (“together”) + statuō (“to set, place, establish”).

Meanings

1. A part, or component of a whole.
   • We know how to bring these constituents together, and to cause them to form water. 1865, John Tyndall, The Constitution of the Universe, published 1869, page 11:
   • Just as a regiment is ultimately made up of soldiers, so the sentence is of morphemes—they are its ultimate constituents. 1970, Thomas Pyles, John Algeo, English: An Introduction to Language, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, page 135:
2. A person or thing which constitutes, determines, or constructs.
   • whose first composure and origination requires a higher and nobler Constituent than either Chance or the ordinary method of meer Natural causes. a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC:
3. A resident of an area represented by an elected official, particularly in relation to that official.
   • The candidate himself, the son and heir of a peer, feels that he is truly of the same flesh and blood as his constituents; how amiably he smiles!—how bland are his manners!—and with what cordiality does he shake hands with the greasiest and the worst! 1835, James Fenimore Cooper, The Monikins, volume 1, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, pages 75–76:
   • But the purported rise in violent videos online has led some MPs to campaign for courts to have more power to remove or block material on YouTube. The Labour MP Heidi Alexander said she was appalled after a constituent was robbed at knifepoint, and the attackers could be found brandishing weapons and rapping about gang violence online. 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:
   • He had been chief justice of Chester when Delamere, then Mr. Booth, represented that county in parliament. Booth had bitterly complained to the Commons that the dearest interests of his constituents were intrusted to a drunken jackpudding. 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 40:
4. A voter who supports a (political) candidate; a supporter of a cause.
   • But he [Joe Biden] believes that non-college-educated voters, the neglected constituents he wants to take back from the Republicans, hardly know about the big bills emanating from Washington with banal names. 2023 January 19, Franklin Foer, “How Joe Biden Wins Again”, in The Atlantic:
5. One who appoints another to act for him as attorney in fact.
6. A functional element of a phrase or clause.
   • In the first bracketting^([sic]), old and men are constituents of an intermediate unit old men, and in the second, men, and and women are similarly the constituents of men and women. The units are made up directly of these words: therefore these are, more precisely, their immediate constituents. 1993, Peter Matthews, “Central Concepts of Syntax”, in Joachim Jacobs, Arnim von Stechow, Wolfgang Sternefeld, Theo Vennemann, editors, Syntax, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 95:
   • Thus, the postulation of a Noun Phrase constituent is justified on morphological grounds, since it is not obvious how we could describe the grammar of the genitive s inflection in English without saying that it's a Noun Phrase inflection. 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 65:

Forms

Deriveds

constituent country (terms derived from adjective or noun (unsorted)) · constituent assembly (terms derived from adjective or noun (unsorted)) · core constituent (terms derived from adjective or noun (unsorted)) · non-constituent (terms derived from adjective or noun (unsorted))

Relateds

substituent · substitute

Translations (68)

hu konstituens (functional element of a phrase or clause) · fi äänestäjä (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · it elemento (functional element of a phrase or clause) · he מרכיב (part, or component of a whole) · sw kiambajengo (functional element of a phrase or clause) · id konstituen (part, or component of a whole) · de sprachliche Einheit (functional element of a phrase or clause) · id konstituen (functional element of a phrase or clause) · hu összetevő (functional element of a phrase or clause) · ru составля́ющая (functional element of a phrase or clause) · fi rakenneosa (part, or component of a whole) · it elemento (part, or component of a whole) · de formbildender Bestandteil (part, or component of a whole) · ar مُكَوِّن (part, or component of a whole) · ja 構成素 (functional element of a phrase or clause) · pl element (functional element of a phrase or clause) · hu választópolgár (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · es constituyente (functional element of a phrase or clause) · mn бүрэлдүүлэгч бүрдүүлбэр (functional element of a phrase or clause) · it costitutivo (part, or component of a whole) · fi ainesosa (part, or component of a whole) · ka ამომრჩეველი (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · ms juzuk (part, or component of a whole) · fr administré (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · de Satzglied (functional element of a phrase or clause) · bg избирател (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · pt constituinte (part, or component of a whole) · pl składnik (part, or component of a whole) · fr commettant (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · fr composant (part, or component of a whole) · es elector (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · ru избира́тель (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · nb bestanddel (part, or component of a whole) · ca component (part, or component of a whole) · pl wyborczyni (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · sv beståndsdel (part, or component of a whole) · hy բաղադրիչ (part, or component of a whole) · es votante (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · fi aineosa (part, or component of a whole) · fi lauseenjäsen (functional element of a phrase or clause) · de Bestandteil (functional element of a phrase or clause) · de Wahlkreisbewohner (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · hu összetevő (part, or component of a whole) · ro constituent (part, or component of a whole) · fr électeur (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · hu alkotórész (part, or component of a whole) · ru соста́вная часть (part, or component of a whole) · da bestanddel (part, or component of a whole) · cs složka (part, or component of a whole) · pl wyborca (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · ro component (part, or component of a whole) · de Konstituente (functional element of a phrase or clause) · it elettore (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · nl bestanddeel (part, or component of a whole) · pl elektor (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · es constituyente (part, or component of a whole) · hu alkotóelem (part, or component of a whole) · pt constituinte (functional element of a phrase or clause) · de Bestandteil (part, or component of a whole) · hu választó (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · ms unsur (functional element of a phrase or clause) · de Wahlkreisbewohnerin (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · sv konstituent (functional element of a phrase or clause) · fr constituant (functional element of a phrase or clause) · ca elector (resident of a place represented by an elected official) · ka შემადგენელი ნაწილი (part, or component of a whole) · bg съставна част (part, or component of a whole) · id konstituen (resident of a place represented by an elected official)