constitute

verb

con·​sti·​tute ˈkän(t)-stə-ˌtüt 

-ˌtyüt

constituted; constituting

transitive verb

1

: make up, form, compose

12 months constitute a year.

… high school dropouts who constitute a major problem in large city slums.

—J. B. Conant

2

: set up, establish: such as

a

: enact

regulations as are constituted by the government

b

: found

constitute a provisional government

c(1)

: to give due or lawful form to

an agreement constituted by writing

(2)

: to legally process

3

: to appoint to an office, function, or dignity

Legal authority constitutes all magistrates.

Synonyms

• compose
• comprise
• form
• make up

Examples of constitute in a Sentence

Women constitute 70 percent of the student population at the college.

nine players constitute a baseball team

Recent Examples on the Web

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. —José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2023

Soon, Brian would know all about the English musician who constituted 33 percent of the chart-topping pop group the Police. —John Kelly, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2023

As a species, humans once ate thousands of plant foods, but only a hundred and fifty are cultivated at scale for food today, three of which—rice, wheat, and maize—constitute fifty per cent of all calories. —Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2023

Job stressors, including heavy workloads, tight deadlines and environments that take autonomy away from workers, constitute job strain that's severe enough to hurt workers' heart health. —Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 19 Sep. 2023

In June, Boebert tried to force a vote on articles of impeachment against President Biden, claiming his immigration policies constituted high crimes and misdemeanors. —Annie Karni, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Sep. 2023

Now, what constitutes a New York restaurant is different. —Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 14 Sep. 2023

Supervising physicians can be held personally liable only when the supervisor is personally involved in an informed consent violation or when the supervisor's corrective inaction constitutes deliberate indifference towards the violation, the filing states. —Ron Wood, Arkansas Online, 12 Sep. 2023

So what does constitute a diversion-worthy accident? —Erin Clements, Peoplemag, 8 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin constitutus, past participle of constituere to set up, constitute, from com- + statuere to set — more at statute

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

constitute

verb

con·​sti·​tute ˈkän(t)-stə-ˌt(y)üt 

constituted; constituting

1

: to appoint to an office or duty

constituted authorities

2

: set up sense 4, establish

a fund was constituted to help needy students

3

: make up sense 2, form

twelve months constitute a year

Legal Definition

constitute

transitive verb

con·​sti·​tute ˈkän-stə-ˌtüt, -ˌtyüt 

1

: to appoint to an office or function

those who are constituted heirs or named legatees

—Louisiana Civil Code

legal authority constitutes all magistrates

2

: establish, found

to constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court

—U.S. Constitution art. I

3

a

: to put (as an agreement) into required form

b

: to qualify as

a letter can constitute a will

—W. M. McGovern, Jr. et al.

failure to act may constitute negligence

c

: to form the substance or whole of

the bonds constituted the entire estate