I. ˈkänztəˌt(y)üd.iv, -än(t)stəˌt(y)-; kənzˈtichəd.iv, -ənˈsti- adjective
1.
a. : having the power to enact or establish : constructive
b. : having the character of stating a condition of the possibility of experience and hence of natural phenomena — used in Kantianism of the categories (as those of quantity and quality); contrasted with regulative
2.
a. : that gives the essential quality or nature : essential
a truly constitutive ingredient
b. : tending or assisting to constitute : coessential , component
reason as a constitutive factor of faith — W.R.Inge
for the part evidently is constitutive of the whole — A.N.Whitehead
3. : relating to or dependent on constitution (as the arrangement of atoms in a molecule)
a constitutive property
— compare additive 3, colligative
• con·sti·tu·tive·ly -d.ə̇vlē adverb
II. adjective
1.
a. : of, relating to, or being an enzyme or protein produced in relatively constant amounts in all cells of an organism without regard to cell environmental conditions (as the concentration of a substrate) — compare inducible 1 herein
b. : controlling production of or coding genetic information for a constitutive enzyme or protein
constitutive genes
constitutive mutations
2. : being chromatin of a chromosomal region that is condensed into heterochromatin in all cells of an organism rather than just some
• constitutively adverb