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.

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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)

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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

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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

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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

Foma thinks the fact that Ivan can travel freely does not necessarily constitute a red flag.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

"Allegations do not constitute proof of wrongdoing, and any action taken by Fijian authorities must uphold due process, the presumption of innocence and the rule of law," it added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 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

Net sales, which constitute most of Costco’s top line, grew to $93.87 billion from $84.43 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

The new cells resulting from these divisions have the same ability to escape control, and in time enough such cells have accumulated to constitute a cancer.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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

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

Time to cut loose - or what constitutes cutting loose for a team that has lost their ability to score.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

The appearance of new ways of thinking and communicating, between 70,000 and 30,000 years ago, constitutes the Cognitive Revolution.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Race stewards said the medication was applied in error but still constituted a "serious breach", the Age reported.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

The chair umpire then conducted a video review of what happened, and ruled that the flickering ad constituted a “hindrance” outside of the control of the players, like some paper getting blown onto the court.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 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

Mainland Australia’s 300,000 hunter-gatherers were more numerous and less isolated than the Tasmanians but still constituted the smallest and most isolated human population of any of the continents.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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

Prosecutors contend that the Paramount deal would reach and, in some cases, exceed established thresholds, constituting violations of the century-old Clayton Antitrust Act that was adopted to protect markets and consumers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 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

A total of 241 signs or letters was neatly divided by etched vertical lines into groups of several signs, possibly constituting words.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• create
• establish

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