[con.stit.u.ent] n [F constituant, fr. MF, fr. prp. of constituer to constitute, fr. L constituere] (1622) 1: one who authorizes another to act as agent: principal
2: a member of a constituency
3: an essential part: component, element
4: a structural unit of a definable syntactic, semantic, or phonological category that consists of one or more linguistic elements (as words, morphemes, or features) and that can occur as a component of a larger construction syn see element
[2]constituent adj [L constituent-, constituens, prp. of constituere] (1660) 1: serving to form, compose, or make up a unit or whole: component
2: having the power to create a government or frame or amend a constitution "a ~ assembly" -- con.stit.u.ent.ly adv