constitutive

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

SEE MORE 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.

Origin of constitutive

First recorded in 1585–95; constitute + -ive

Related formscon·sti·tu·tive·ly, adverb

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

Related Words for constitutive

basic, constitutional, fundamental, important, integral, key, main, vital

Examples from the Web for constitutive

Contemporary Examples of 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

Historical Examples of constitutive

They are constitutive of non-linear forms of complementarity.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin
If so, should not the pars regens which is constitutive have been put in?
A Christian Directory
Baxter Richard
If the former, then christianity hath its constitutive parts, by which it is what it is.
A Christian Directory
Baxter Richard
Though not constitutive, yet are they regulative principles.
A History of Philosophy in Epitome
Albert Schwegler
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

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 Formsconstitutively, 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

Word Origin and History for constitutive

adj.

c.1600, "having the power of establishing," also "elemental, essential," from Medieval Latin *constitutivus, from constitut-, past participle stem of constituere (see constitute). Related: Constitutively.