constitution

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See also: Constitution

English

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Etymology

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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”)[1] 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.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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constitution (plural constitutions)

  1. The act, or process of setting something up, or establishing something; the composition or structure of such a thing; its makeup.
    Synonyms: configuration, form; see also Thesaurus:composition
    • 1876, John Herschel, Outlines of Astronomy:
      the physical constitution of the sun
  2. (government) The formal or informal system of primary principles and laws that regulates a government or other institutions.
    • 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.
    • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 10, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
      Our constitution had begun to exist in times when statesmen were not much accustomed to frame exact definitions.
  3. (law) A legal document describing such a formal system.
  4. (Catholicism) A document issued by a religious authority serving to promulgate some particular church laws or doctrines.
  5. A person's physical makeup or temperament, especially in respect of robustness.
    He has a strong constitution, so he should make a quick recovery from the illness.
  6. (dated) The general health of a person.
    • 1766 May, “The Life of Mr. Barton Booth”, in The Gentleman's and London Magazine: Or Monthly Chronologer, page 281:
      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.
    • 1792 July 18, “History of Nicholas Pedrosa”, in The Phoenix, volume 1, number 3, page 39:
      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:
    • 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:
      The physician, to gratify the apothecary, 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 posible an apothecarty's bill in a fever should amount to forty, or fifty, or more pounds?
    • 1838, George Godfrey Cunningham, Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen:
      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.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

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  1. ^ “constitūciǒun, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French constitucion, from Latin cōnstitūtiōnem. Morphologically, from constituer +‎ -tion.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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constitution f (plural constitutions)

  1. constitution (formal or informal system of primary principles and laws that regulates a government or other institutions; legal document describing such a formal system)
  2. constitution (a person's physical makeup or temperament, especially in respect of robustness)

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Norman

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Etymology

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From Latin cōnstitūtiō, cōnstitūtiōnem.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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constitution f (plural constitutions)

  1. (Jersey) constitution
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