constitution
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃ(ə)n/
ipa: /-ˈtʃuː-/
ipa: /ˌkɑnstɪˈtuʃ(ə)n/
Forms: form: constitutions
Etymology: PIE word
 *ḱóm
From Middle English constitucioun, constitucion (“edict, law, ordinance, regulation, rule, statute; body of laws or rules, or customs; body of fundamental principles; principle or rule (of science); creation”) from Old French constitucion (modern French constitution), a learned borrowing from Latin cōnstitūtiō, cōnstitūtiōnem (“character, constitution, disposition, nature; definition; point in dispute; order, regulation; arrangement, system”), from cōnstituō (“to establish, set up; to confirm; to decide, resolve”). Equivalent to constitute + -ion.
Senses: examples: text: the physical constitution of the sun
ref: 1876, John Herschel, Outlines of Astronomy:
synonyms: word: configuration
word: form
word: arrangement
word: composition
word: configuration
word: constitution
word: form
word: makeup
word: structure
glosses: The act, or process of setting something up, or establishing something; the composition or structure of such a thing; its makeup.
examples: text: 1693, Edmund Bohun, A Geographical Dictionary
They have in their present Constitution a Grand Council of the Nobility, a Senato, a College of Twenty six who give Audience to Ambassadors and report their Demands to the Senate, a Council of Ten; and a Triumvirate (monthly chosen by, and out of, the Ten) of three Inquisitors of State; whose Authority is so absolute, as to extend to the taking away of the Life of the Doge no less than the meanest Artisan, without acquainting the Senate, provided they all three agree in the Sentence.
text: Our constitution had begun to exist in times when statesmen were not much accustomed to frame exact definitions.
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
topics: government
glosses: The formal or informal system of primary principles and laws that regulates a government or other institutions.
topics: law
glosses: A legal document describing such a formal system.
topics: Catholicism
Christianity
glosses: A document issued by a religious authority serving to promulgate some particular church laws or doctrines.
examples: text: He has a strong constitution, so he should make a quick recovery from the illness.
text: Our constitutions have never been enfeebled by the vices or luxuries of the old world.
ref: 1828, Joseph Story, Appeal to the Republic:
text: He defended himself with [...] less passion than was expected from his constitution.
ref: (Can we date this quote?), Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641, Oxford: The Theater:
glosses: A person's physical makeup or temperament, especially in respect of robustness.
examples: text: But when once his constitution began to decline, he broke very fast, and being attacked bya complication of diseases, he at length gave way to fate, May 10, 1733.
ref: 1766 May, “The Life of Mr. Barton Booth”, in The Gentleman's and London Magazine: Or Monthly Chronologer, page 281:
text: Don Manuel de Casafonda the governor, whose countenance bespoke a constitution far gone in a decliner had thrown himself on a sopha in the last state of despair and given way to an effusion of tears:
ref: 1792 July 18, “History of Nicholas Pedrosa”, in The Phoenix, volume 1, number 3, page 39:
text: The physician, to gratify the apothecary, thinks himself obliged to order ten times more physic than the patient really wants, by which means he ruins his constitution, and too often his life; otherwise how is it possible an apothecarty's bill in a fever should amount to forty, or fifty, or more pounds?
ref: 1827 July, “On the Mal-organization of the Medical Profession, and of the Necessity of a Medical Reform”, in The Oriental Herald and Journal of General Literature, volume 14, number 43, page 79:
text: In early life his health was infirm, and his education much interrupted in consequence; but by diligent study, as his constitution improved, he made up his lost ground, and became one of the most accomplished classical and general scholars of his time.
ref: 1838, George Godfrey Cunningham, Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen:
glosses: The general health of a person.
Derived terms: apostolic constitution
constitutional
constitutioned
constitutioner
Constitutioner
constitutionist
constitutionless
Cuntstitution
living constitution
metaconstitution
miniconstitution
reconstitution
Related terms: constitute
constituent
constituency
constitutive