constituant

Forms

constituant (feminine constituante, masculine plural constituants, feminine plural constituantes)^[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective and a noun, it is the present participle from French constituer.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is from Latin cōnstituō (“to set up, establish”).^[6] Bloch and Wartburg date the participle to 1390, the Grand Robert and the DHLF to 1476.^[6][2][5]

In linguistics the TLFi treats it as a separate borrowing, borrowed from English constituent, recorded in French in 1968, the English term going back to Bloomfield (1933).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1476 as a noun for “one who confers a right”, a term of law.^[2][5][8]

Semantic evolution

Used as an adjective, the participle took on the everyday sense “entering into the make-up of something” (1572, according to the DHLF; 1752, in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux, according to the GLLF and the Petit Robert).^[5][8][3] In chemistry, molécules constituantes were the molecules of the different elements in a compound, as opposed to molécules intégrantes.^[9]

In politics, the adjective came to mean “having the power to make or change a constitution” (1787),^[8] and constituant was used for an elector around 1770.^[3] The feminine la Constituante became a noun in 1789, short for Assemblée constituante, the name adopted on 9 July 1789 by the assembly that had sworn to give the kingdom a constitution.^[5] In 20th-century linguistics, constituant immédiat names a morpheme or phrase that forms part of a larger structure.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1390 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the participle of constituer.^[6]
• 1476 – First recorded as a law term, “one who confers a right”.^[2][5]
• 1572 – Used as an adjective, “entering into the make-up of”.^[5]
• 1752 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records the sense “forming part of a whole”.^[8]
• 1787 – First recorded in the political sense “empowered to make a constitution”.^[8]
• 9 July 1789 – The name Assemblée constituante is adopted, and la Constituante follows.^[5]
• 1968 – Constituant appears as a term of linguistics, after English constituent.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Constitutive, forming an essential part of a whole: les éléments constituants d'un alliage.^[7][3]
2. (law) Granting a right or a power of attorney to someone else.^[8][4]
3. (politics) Having the power to draw up or change a constitution: pouvoir constituant, Assemblée constituante.^[8][3][4]

Noun

1. A constituent, a part or element of something: l'azote est un constituant de l'air.^[3][7]
2. (law) A person who grants a power of attorney or establishes a right or an annuity in favour of another.^[4][8]
3. (history) La Constituante: the Constituent Assembly of 1789.^[3][4][5]
4. (linguistics) Constituant immédiat: an element of a phrase or sentence in immediate constituent analysis.^[7][3]

Related words

• constituer
• constitution
• constitutif
• reconstituer
• Latin cōnstituō
• English constituent

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette