constitutive

[ kon-sti-too-tiv, -tyoo- ]

/ ˈkɒn stɪˌtu tɪv, -ˌtyu- /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR constitutive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

constituent; making a thing what it is; essential.

having power to establish or enact.

Physics, Chemistry. pertaining to a molecular property determined primarily by the arrangement of atoms in the molecule rather than by their nature or number.

Words nearby constitutive

constitutionalism, constitutionalist, constitutionality, constitutionalize, constitutionally, constitutive, constr., constrain, constrained, constraint, constrict

Origin of constitutive

First recorded in 1585–95; constitute + -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM constitutive

con·sti·tu·tive·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for constitutive

Meanwhile, vulnerability, risk, unpredictability, and sudden transformation are the constitutive experiences of human life.
Can Heritage Foundation Posterboy Bono Save the GOP?|James Poulos|March 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Criticism has similarly its three constitutive factors, rationalism, subjectivism, immanence.
A Commentary to Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason'|Norman Kemp Smith
They are a priori conditions, subjective in one sense, but objective as being universal, necessary and constitutive of experience.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5|Various
But as ideas,18 though of a type quite apart,19 they have also a constitutive application to reality.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 8|Various

To take a phrase from Professor Dewey, reason, for Spinoza, is reconstructive not constitutive.
The Philosophy of Spinoza|Baruch de Spinoza
This constitutive mode of relatedness is, however, just taken for granted.
Spencer's Philosophy of Science|C. Lloyd Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for constitutive

constitutive

/ (ˈkɒnstɪˌtjuːtɪv) /

adjective

having power to enact, appoint, or establish

chem (of a physical property) determined by the arrangement of atoms in a molecule rather than by their nature

biochem (of an enzyme) formed continuously, irrespective of the cell's needs

another word for constituent (def. 1)

Derived forms of constitutive

constitutively, adverb

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

constitutive

adjective

Words related to constitutive

Words nearby constitutive

Origin of constitutive

OTHER WORDS FROM constitutive

Examples from the Web for constitutive

British Dictionary definitions for constitutive

adjective

Derived forms of constitutive