constituent (n.)

  1. an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system; spare components for cars; a component or constituent element of a system

    [ Syn: component , element ]

  2. a member of a constituency; a citizen who is represented in a government by officials for whom he or she votes; needs continued support by constituents to be re-elected'

  3. something determined in relation to something that includes it; he wanted to feel a part of something bigger than himself; I read a portion of the manuscript; the smaller component is hard to reach; the animal constituent of plankton

    [ Syn: part , portion , component part , component ]

  4. (grammar) a word or phrase or clause forming part of a larger grammatical construction

    [ Syn: grammatical constituent ]

  5. an abstract part of something; jealousy was a component of his character; two constituents of a musical composition are melody and harmony; the grammatical elements of a sentence; a key factor in her success; humor: an effective ingredient of a speech

    [ Syn: component , element , factor , ingredient ]

    constituent (adj.)

  1. constitutional in the structure of something (especially your physical makeup)

    [ Syn: constitutional , constitutive , organic ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.