Meaning & use
constitute
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To be the parts that together make up something.
Grammar: The parts are the subject and the whole is the object: women constitute half the staff.
Patterns
- something constitutes something
Students constitute about forty percent of the town's population.
Twelve members constitute the committee.
Fruit and vegetables should constitute half of every meal.
verblinkinglegal
To amount to or count as a particular thing, especially in law or rules.
Grammar: Works like be: that constitutes a breach of contract.
Patterns
- something constitutes a breach
- something constitutes evidence
Entering the building without permission constitutes trespass.
Two signatures constitute valid approval under the rules.
Does this email constitute a formal complaint?
verbtransitiveformal
To set up an organization or body officially, giving it its authority.
Grammar: Often used in the passive: the panel was constituted in 1998.
Patterns
- constitute a committee
The government constituted a commission to review the law.
The board was constituted under the founding charter.
Word forms
| third person singular | constitutes |
|---|---|
| past tense | constituted |
| past participle | constituted |
| -ing form | constituting |
Common combinations
- constitute a threat
- The strange package was judged to constitute a threat.
- constitute a majority
- Those under thirty constitute a majority of our users.
- constitute a crime
- Copying the exam constitutes a crime in some countries.
- constitute evidence
- A single photo does not constitute evidence.
- constitute a breach
- Missing the deadline constitutes a breach of the agreement.
Synonyms and how they differ
- make up
- Make up is the everyday phrasal verb for forming a whole, while constitute is more formal.
- comprise
- Comprise traditionally means the whole includes the parts, so it often has the reverse order from constitute.
- amount to
- Amount to suggests reaching a total or effect, and often sounds less official than constitute.
- form
- Form is shorter and general, and can also mean shaping something, which constitute does not.
Word family
- constitution noun
- the basic laws of a state, or a person's physical makeup
- constituent noun
- a part of a whole, or a voter in a district
- constitutional adjective
- relating to a constitution
- constitutive adjective
- being an essential part of something
Commonly confused: constitute or consist? constitute or institute?
constitute vs consist
Consist always needs of, as in the team consists of ten players, but constitute takes a direct object and the parts come first.
constitute vs institute
Institute means to start or establish something such as a policy, and is different from constituting a body or making up a whole.
Practice
Which sentence uses the verb correctly?
Choose one answer.
Constitute takes a direct object with no preposition, so ten players constitute the team is correct; constitute of is the mistake learners make by mixing it with consist of.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “constitute”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.