constituer

Forms

constituer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnstituō (“to set up, to establish, to appoint, to organise”), formed from con- and statuō (“to set up, to establish”), literally “to make stand”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In the passive the Latin verb meant “to be well built” and “to be made up of”.^[2][3]

Compare Spanish constituir and Italian costituire.^[7] It is related to statuer and instituer.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the 13th-century Coutumier d'Artois, is reflexive, “to establish oneself, to take one's rank in a city”: Constituer soi est le premiers commandemens des loys (“To establish oneself is the first command of the laws”).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “to put, to establish” appears in Oresme (about 1370), and soon after the legal one, “to place someone in a legal position or a post of responsibility”, which Froissart has at the end of the 14th century; in this sense the verb is close to instituer.^[2][3] It lives on in reflexive phrases such as se constituer prisonnier “to give oneself up” (1795).^[2][3] Also in law, constituer quelque chose à quelqu'un “to settle something on someone” is found from 1549.^[3]

The common sense “to make up a whole” is recorded by Furetière (1690),^[2][3] and “to create, to organise” by Cotgrave (1611).^[2][3] The latter spread from the end of the 18th century in politics, under the influence of constitution: in 1789 Sieyès speaks of the pouvoir constituant and of corps constitués, and the Assemblée constituante, or simply the Constituante, took its name that year.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 13th century – The reflexive constituer soi appears in the Coutumier d'Artois.^[2][3]
• c. 1370 – Oresme uses it for “to put, to establish”.^[2][7]
• Late 14th century – Froissart uses it of appointing someone to a post.^[2][7]
• 1475 – A royal ordinance has the reflexive “to establish oneself as”.^[2]
• 1549 – Constituer quelque chose à quelqu'un appears in law.^[3]
• 1572 – Amyot uses the adjective constituans “making up”.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “to create, to organise”.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “to make up a whole”.^[2][3]
• 1789 – Sieyès writes of the pouvoir constituant.^[2]
• 1795 – Madame de Genlis uses se constituer prisonnier.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To place someone in a legal position: Elle l'a constitué son héritier, she made him her heir.^[8] Se constituer prisonnier: to give oneself up.^[8][9] Se constituer partie civile: to join a criminal case as a plaintiff seeking damages.^[8][9]
2. (dated) To appoint someone to a post or to the care of something.^[8][5]
3. (law) To settle something on someone: constituer une rente, constituer une dot.^[8][9]
4. To make up or form a whole, together with other elements: Douze membres constituent le jury.^[8][10]
5. By extension, to be, to amount to: Ce retard constitue une faute.^[8]
6. To set up or organise something complex, such as a company or a government.^[8][10]

Word family

• constituant
• constitutif
• reconstituer
• reconstitution

Related words

• constitution
• statuer
• instituer
• Latin cōnstituō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1084a
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)