constitute
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to compose; form.
mortar constituted of lime and sand.
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to appoint to an office or function; make or create.
He was constituted treasurer.
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to establish (laws, an institution, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- commission, institute
-
to give legal form to (an assembly, court, etc.).
-
to create or be tantamount to.
Imports constitute a challenge to local goods.
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Archaic. to set or place.
verb
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to make up; form; compose
the people who constitute a jury
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to appoint to an office or function
a legally constituted officer
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to set up (a school or other institution) formally; found
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law to give legal form to (a court, assembly, etc)
-
obsolete law to set up or enact (a law)
Other Word Forms
- constituter noun
- constitutor noun
- nonconstituted adjective
- preconstitute verb (used with object)
- self-constituted adjective
- self-constituting adjective
- unconstituted adjective
- well-constituted adjective
Etymology
Origin of constitute
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin constitūtus, past participle of constituere “to set up, found”; constituent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What he says tonight will be carefully scrutinised by US allies and adversaries, some of whom will wonder whether it constitutes a ruse.
From BBC
The government said earlier that this constitutes a violation of the country's sovereignty.
From BBC
Premier David Eby granted Aboriginal title of Haida Gwaii—formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands—on the West Coast to the Haida Nation, who constitute only about half the archipelago’s population.
As in ancient Athens, those most vocal about the need to protect children from corrupting influences insist that such drastic measures constitute a defense of rather than an attack on democratic values and social cohesion.
In July regulators will publish new standards, including definitions for what constitutes a semisolid, a “solid-liquid” or all solid-state battery.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
