constitute
[kon-sti-toot, -tyoot]
- to compose; form: mortar constituted of lime and sand.
- to appoint to an office or function; make or create: He was constituted treasurer.
- to establish (laws, an institution, etc.).
- to give legal form to (an assembly, court, etc.).
- to create or be tantamount to: Imports constitute a challenge to local goods.
- Archaic. to set or place.
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Origin of constitute
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin constitūtus (past participle of constituere; see constituent), equivalent to con- con- + -stitūtus, combining form of statūtum, past participle of statuere to set up. See statute
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
createestablishempowerincorporatecomposedevelopcompleteaggregatemakecomplementconstructembodyframecompoundintegratefoundfixenactappointlegislateExamples from the Web for constituted
Contemporary Examples
The majority of the slabs that constituted the wall were demolished and used for highway gravel.
Historian Sam Bass Warner suggested that this constituted “the glory of Los Angeles and an expression of its design for living.”
Perhaps that constituted one of the jobs of the White House press secretary.
We can debate whether these constituted high crimes and misdemeanors, but at least they happened in real life.
What constituted the two “wings”, separated by a thousand miles of India, into one “nation”?
Historical Examples
The constituted authorities must be cheerfully and vigorously upheld.
For an hour he worked with the brainless things that constituted his party.
The Monster MenEdgar Rice Burroughs
What was the peculiarity about the mine which constituted its recommendation to investors?
A Woman IntervenesRobert Barr
This had constituted the clay of him, and it had not been kindly moulded by the world.
White FangJack London
He constituted himself one of the most implacable enemies of Fantômas.
A Nest of SpiesPierre Souvestre
constitute
- to make up; form; composethe people who constitute a jury
- to appoint to an office or functiona legally constituted officer
- to set up (a school or other institution) formally; found
- law to give legal form to (a court, assembly, etc)
- law obsolete to set up or enact (a law)
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin constituere, from com- (intensive) + statuere to place
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for constituted
constitute
v.
mid-15c., verb use of adjective constitute, "made up, formed" (late 14c.), from Latin constitutus "arranged, settled," past participle adjective from constituere "to cause to stand, set up, fix, place, establish, set in order; form something new; resolve," of persons, "to appoint to an office," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + statuere "to set," from PIE root *sta- "to stand," with derivatives meaning "place or thing that is standing" (see stet). Related: Constituted; constituting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper