Constituent Meaning
/kənˈstɪtjuənt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjBeing a part or component of a whole.
adjConstitutive or constituting.
Sentence Examples
Until we know the constituent elements of human intelligence, we cannot create artificial intelligence.
Oxygen is a major constituent of the Earth's atmosphere.
CEFR Practice Quiz
A worried ____ wrote to the senator about the new education policy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Water is the primary chemical ____ of the human body, making up an average of sixty percent.
Word Origin & History
From Latin cōnstituēns, present participle of cōnstituō (“to establish”), from com- (“together”) + statuō (“to set, place, establish”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Body, soul, and reason are the three parts necessarily constituent of a man."
— 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:
"The skeleton varies in the proportions, and even to a certain extent in the connexions, of its constituent bones."
— 1863, Thomas Henry Huxley, Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature, London: Williams and Norgate, page 143:
"We know how to bring these constituents together, and to cause them to form water."
— 1865, John Tyndall, The Constitution of the Universe, published 1869, page 11:
"Just as a regiment is ultimately made up of soldiers, so the sentence is of morphemes—they are its ultimate constituents."
— 1970, Thomas Pyles, John Algeo, English: An Introduction to Language, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, page 135:
"whose first composure and origination requires a higher and nobler Constituent than either Chance or the ordinary method of meer Natural causes."
— a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
A worried ____ wrote to the senator about the new education policy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Water is the primary chemical ____ of the human body, making up an average of sixty percent.