constituency

noun

con·​stit·​u·​en·​cy kən-ˈsti-chə-wən(t)-sē 

-ˈstich-, 

-ˈsti-chü-ən(t)-

plural constituencies

1

a

: a body of citizens entitled to elect a representative (as to a legislative or executive position)

the governor's liberal constituency

b

: the residents in an electoral district

The senator's constituency includes a large minority population.

c

: an electoral district

2

a

: a group or body that patronizes, supports, or offers representation

… creating … a grass-roots constituency for continuing the project …

—Fred Reed

b

: the people involved in or served by an organization (such as a business or institution)

… regards its corporate customers as its prime constituency.

—Andrew Hacker

Examples of constituency in a Sentence

The senator's constituency includes a large minority population.

He was elected to represent a Liverpool constituency.

Recent Examples on the Web

Vote counting was continuing in most of country's constituencies Saturday and final results are expected within the next two days. —ABC News, 7 Mar. 2026

Oli, 74, ⁠on his home turf in the Jhapa 5 constituency along the Indian border. —CNN Money, 6 Mar. 2026

Fortune spoke with six people who have invested in Anthropic to get a sense of how this key constituency is feeling about the situation, and found that opinions were not unified despite the company’s longstanding forthrightness about its values. —Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2026

At the end of February, Green candidate Hannah Spencer, a plumber and member of the local government council, won a major upset victory in the by-election for the constituency of Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester. —Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 3 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

see constitute

First Known Use

1831, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing constituency

• multi-member constituency
• single-member constituency

Kids Definition

constituency

noun

con·​stit·​u·​en·​cy kən-ˈstich-(ə-)wən-sē 

plural constituencies

1

: a body of citizens having the right to elect a representative to a legislature

2

: the people living in an electoral district

3

: an electoral district

Legal Definition

constituency

noun

con·​stit·​u·​en·​cy kən-ˈsti-chə-wən-sē 

plural constituencies

1

: a body of citizens entitled to elect a representative (as to a legislative or executive office)

2

: the residents in an electoral district

3

: an electoral district