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constituent

Syllabification: (con·stit·u·ent)

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Definition of constituent

adjective

  • 1being a part of a whole:the constituent minerals of the rock
  • 2being a voting member of a community or organization and having the power to appoint or elect:the constituent body has a right of veto
  • able to make or change a political constitution:a constituent assembly

noun

  • 1a member of a constituency.
  • 2a component part of something:the essential constituents of the human diet
  • Linguistics the common part of two or several more complex forms, e.g., gentle in gentleman, gentlemanly, ungentlemanly.
  • Linguistics a word or construction that is part of a larger construction.

Origin:

late 15th century (in the legal sense of the noun): from Latin constituent- (partly via French constituant) 'establishing, appointing', from the verb constituere (see constitute)

constituent in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of constituent in the British & World English dictionary
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