constitute

American  

[kon-sti-toot, -tyoot] / ˈkɒn stɪˌtut, -ˌtjut /

verb (used with object)

• constitutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• constituted,
  past participle,  past
• constituting
  present participle

1. to compose; form.

   mortar constituted of lime and sand.

2. to appoint to an office or function; make or create.

   He was constituted treasurer.

3. to establish (laws, an institution, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   commission, institute

4. to give legal form to (an assembly, court, etc.).

5. to create or be tantamount to.

   Imports constitute a challenge to local goods.

6. Archaic. to set or place.

---

constitute British  

/ ˈkɒnstɪˌtjuːt /

verb

1. to make up; form; compose

   the people who constitute a jury

2. to appoint to an office or function

   a legally constituted officer

3. to set up (a school or other institution) formally; found

4. law to give legal form to (a court, assembly, etc)

5. obsolete law to set up or enact (a law)

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• constituter
  noun
• constitutor
  noun
• preconstitute
  verb (used with object)
• nonconstituted
  adjective
• self-constituted
  adjective
• self-constituting
  adjective
• unconstituted
  adjective
• well-constituted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• constituting
  present
• constituted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• constitute
  simple
• constitutes
  simple
• have constituted
  perfect
• has constituted
  perfect
• am constituting
  progressive
• are constituting
  progressive
• is constituting
  progressive
• have been constituting
  perfect progressive
• has been constituting
  perfect progressive

Past

• constituted
  simple
• had constituted
  perfect
• was constituting
  progressive
• were constituting
  progressive
• had been constituting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will constitute
  simple
• will have constituted
  perfect
• will be constituting
  progressive
• will have been constituting
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of constitute

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin constitūtus, past participle of constituere “to set up, found”; see constituent

---

Explanation

To constitute is to make up a whole from smaller parts, or "constituents." "What constitutes a family?" means "What makes up a family?" Parents, kids, pets, and other family members constitute most people's idea of a family. The Constitution tells us what our country is all about and supposed to be made of — in other words, what constitutes the United States. This word can deal with the present or the future. The items listed in a recipe constitute what will be in a cake; later, the individual ingredients constitute the cake. Eleven players constitute a football team on the field. We can even say that abstract qualities are constituted. For example, some people think wearing sunglasses constitutes coolness. Since everything in the world is made up of other things, there's a lot of constituting going on.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

constitute constitutes constituted constituting

AI firms have previously argued that using copyrighted material to train their models does not necessarily constitute copyright infringement.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Under Malaysian guidelines, API readings above 100 are classified as unhealthy, above 200 as very unhealthy, above 300 as hazardous, while readings beyond 500 constitute the threshold for declaring a local emergency.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

“The unauthorized use of our restaurant premises, signage, logos, or any other proprietary elements in your content may constitute a violation of our intellectual property rights.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

None of these options constitute freedom of the seas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

The trouble, he explained, is that nearly all the things that would constitute warning signs already exist in some measure at Yellowstone.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Whether or not robots dream of electric sheep, rapid advances in artificial intelligence have tech leaders and philosophers pondering what constitutes consciousness.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

"In my view, this constitutes grounds for the operation," he communicated from prison.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The proposition also could incur additional costs for state and local governments depending on the attorney general’s interpretation of what constitutes program expenses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

What constitutes marketing engineering is in the eye of employers and workers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

“My specialty is in administrative supplies—quills, papyrus, Baridian ink—the Temple of Lkossa alone constitutes a quarter of my business, what with all the books and maps they house there.”

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

It said banks largely lacked clear standards for what constituted reputational risk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

They alleged this spending constituted a misuse of funds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

The International Court of Justice is currently weighing whether the campaign constituted genocide, a charge the military has always denied.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

It condemned all forms of discrimination against women and girls, and reiterated that sexual slavery of boys, and child marriages and forced forced marriages constituted human rights abuses.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

We freshers now constituted the official House Committee and we assigned the seniors the most unpleasant chores, which was a humiliation for them.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

He has made clear his belief that the idea of the ultra-Orthodox constituting a separate state within Israel with its own rules has become increasingly toxic.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

Yet punitive damages are extremely rare, constituting fewer than 3% of all customer claims that have ever resulted in any award at Finra.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

It found Kim guilty of manipulating the share price of Deutsch Motors, a South Korean car dealer, which it ruled a "collusive... trading act constituting market manipulation".

From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026

According to McKinsey & Co., the total quantum industry — computing, communications and sensing — could grow into a $97 billion market by 2035, with quantum computing constituting the lion’s share.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025

The enthusiasm Olmsted had identified during his travels, though still far from constituting a tidal wave, at last seemed to begin propelling visitors to Jackson Park.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• create
• establish

---