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constitute

[kon-sti-toot, -tyoot]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR constitute ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), con·sti·tut·ed, con·sti·tut·ing.

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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RELATED WORDS

create, establish, empower, incorporate, compose, develop, complete, aggregate, make, complement, construct, embody, frame, compound, integrate, found, fix, enact, appoint, legislate

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
Related formscon·sti·tut·er, con·sti·tu·tor, nounnon·con·sti·tut·ed, adjectivepre·con·sti·tute, verb (used with object), pre·con·sti·tut·ed, pre·con·sti·tut·ing.self-con·sti·tut·ed, adjectiveself-con·sti·tut·ing, adjectiveun·con·sti·tut·ed, adjectivewell-con·sti·tut·ed, adjective

Synonyms for constitute

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR constitute ON THESAURUS.COM
3. institute, commission.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for constituted

Contemporary Examples of constituted

Historical Examples of constituted

  • The constituted authorities must be cheerfully and vigorously upheld.

  • For an hour he worked with the brainless things that constituted his party.

    The Monster Men

    Edgar Rice Burroughs

  • What was the peculiarity about the mine which constituted its recommendation to investors?

  • This had constituted the clay of him, and it had not been kindly moulded by the world.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • He constituted himself one of the most implacable enemies of Fantômas.

    A Nest of Spies

    Pierre Souvestre

British Dictionary definitions for constituted

constitute

verb (tr)

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)
Derived Formsconstituter or constitutor, noun

Word Origin for constitute

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper