Sentence:  Even though in most cases the completion of the definitive editions of their writings <WSD>is</WSD> still years off , enough documentation has already been assembled to warrant drawing a new composite profile of the leadership which performed the heroic dual feats of winning American independence and founding a new nation . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)