constitute

From Latin constitutum, past participle of constituere. Constructed from the prefix con- and statuere (“to place, set”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnstɪtjuːt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnstɪt(j)uːt/

• Audio (UK)

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constitute (third-person singular simple present constitutes, present participle constituting, simple past and past participle constituted)

1. (transitive) To set up; to establish; to enact.
   • Jeremy Taylor

     Laws appointed and constituted by lawful authority.

2. (transitive) To make up; to compose; to form.
   • Johnson

     Truth and reason constitute that intellectual gold that defies destruction.

3. (transitive) To appoint, depute, or elect to an office; to make and empower.
   • William Wordsworth

     Me didst Thou constitute a priest of thine.

• (set up): establish, enact
• (make up): make up, compose, form; see also Thesaurus:compose
• (appoint):

• constituent
• constituency
• constitution
• constitutional
• constitutionalization
• constitutive

constitute (plural constitutes)

1. (obsolete) An established law.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of T. Preston to this entry?)

• constitute in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• constitute in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

constitūte

1. vocative singular of constitūtus

• constitute in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

constitute (third-person singular present constitutes, present participle constitutein, past constitutet, past participle constitutet)

1. To constitute.