I. -wənt, -ənt noun
Etymology: French constituant, from Middle French, from present participle of constituer to constitute, from Latin constituere
Date: 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
Synonyms: see element
II. adjective
Etymology: Latin constituent-, constituens, present participle of constituere
Date: 1660
1. : serving to form, compose, or make up a unit or whole : component
constituent parts
2. : having the power to create a government or frame or amend a constitution
a constituent assembly
• con·stit·u·ent·ly adverb