constitution - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

A constitution is a statement of the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or group, such as the U.S. Constitution. Another very common meaning of constitution is the physical makeup of a person.

The noun constitution is from Latin, from constitutus "set up, established" plus the suffix -ion- "act, state, or condition." So think of a constitution as how a body (yours, the government's) is set up. If you have a strong constitution, it means you don't get sick very often.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: constitution

1	n	the act of forming or establishing something
2	n	law determining the fundamental political principles of a government
3	n	the way in which someone or something is composed

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: constitution

1

n the act of forming or establishing something

“the constitution of a PTA group last year”

Synonyms:: establishment, formation, organisation, organization

Types:: show 6 types...; hide 6 types...; unionisation, unionization
act of forming labor unions; collectivisation, collectivization
the organization of a nation or economy on the basis of collectivism; communisation, communization
the organization of a nation of the basis of communism; federation
the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate states or colonies or provinces so that each member retains the management of its internal affairs; colonisation, colonization, settlement
the act of colonizing; the establishment of colonies; population
the act of populating (causing to live in a place)

Type of:: beginning, commencement, start
the act of starting something

2

n law determining the fundamental political principles of a government

Synonyms:: fundamental law, organic law

Examples:: Constitution of the United States
the constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states

Type of:: law
legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity

3

n the way in which someone or something is composed

Synonyms:: composition, make-up, makeup, physical composition

Types:: show 9 types...; hide 9 types...; structure
the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts; phenotype
what an organism looks like as a consequence of the interaction of its genotype and the environment; genetic constitution, genotype
the particular alleles at specified loci present in an organism; grain, texture
the physical composition of something (especially with respect to the size and shape of the small constituents of a substance); karyotype
the appearance of the chromosomal makeup of a somatic cell in an individual or species (including the number and arrangement and size and structure of the chromosomes); infrastructure, substructure
the basic structure or features of a system or organization; architecture, computer architecture
(computer science) the structure and organization of a computer's hardware or system software; cytoarchitectonics, cytoarchitecture
the cellular composition of a bodily structure; fabric, framework
the underlying structure

Type of:: property
a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class