Etymologically
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constitution

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˌkɒn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, US /ˌkɑːn.stəˈtuː.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English constitucioun,[2][3] borrowed from Old French constitucion (“constitution, establishment”) (12th century),[2][3] and directly from Latin cōnstitūtiō (“settled condition; regulation, ordinance”),[2][4] from the past participle stem of cōnstituere “to cause to stand, set up, establish”,[2][5] from con- “together” and statuere “to set up, place”,[5] the source of constitute.[2][4] Statuere also gave destitute, institute, restitution, statute and substitute.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A decree, ordinance or law, usually one made by a superior authority: about 1380 in the OED,[6] the mid-14th century in Etymonline, also a body of rules, customs or laws.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The action of establishing or creating is from about 1400,[2] and the way in which a thing is made up, its composition, from about 1600 (1601 in the OED).[2][6] The physical nature of the body as to health and strength is from the 1550s,[2][6] and of the mind, temperament or character, from the 1580s.[2] The system of fundamental principles by which a community is governed dates from the 1730s,[2] and since the 1780s it has especially meant the principles and rules of a government embodied in a written document, as in the United States and France.[2] For Britain the word is a collective name for fundamental principles established in long-accepted precedents.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – a decree or law.[6]
  • c. 1400 – the act of establishing.[2]
  • 1550s – the bodily constitution.[2]
  • 1580s – temperament.[2]
  • 1601 – the composition of a thing.[6]
  • 1730s – the principles of government.[2]
  • 1780s – a written constitution.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The system of fundamental laws and principles that govern a nation, state or organization, or the document in which they are written.
  2. A person's physical makeup, especially as to health and strength: a strong constitution.
  3. The way in which something is made up; composition or structure.
  4. The act of establishing or constituting something.
  5. (history) A decree or ordinance.

Word family

  • constitutionless
  • anticonstitution
  • constitutional
  • constitute
  • constituent
  • constituency
  • constitutive
  • statute
  • institute
  • substitute

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press