constitution
484
5.1
- noun
- /ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃən/
- Formal
:
constitución
- The Constitution of the United States outlines the fundamental rights of its citizens.
- amend the constitution
- interpret the constitution
- guaranteed under the constitution
Like how come you can read the constitution and all of the amendments?
- Like how come you can read the constitution and all of the amendments?
- And what they say is, yeah, yeah, I read the Constitution, and it says that money is speech.
- NATO based on its own constitution, it's a defensive organization, correct?
- He issued a new constitution for the order.
- Now, the first book we have here is a debate about one of the state Constitution ratifying conventions.
- And my suspicion is the Marxists are after our constitution.
- The deal is in this country we have these checks and balances in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
- That was parallel to the United States President's power under the federal Constitution.
- That would effectively erase disqualification from the Constitution.
Examples
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This morning the Supreme Court recognized that the constitution guarantees marriage equality and slowly made an entire country realize that love is love.
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I believe freedom of worship is written into your Constitution.
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And what they say is, yeah, yeah, I read the Constitution, and it says that money is speech.
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Both sides agree to a new government, new constitution, and National Assembly.
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I was elected as an assembly woman to write the Constitution only for eight months.
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How do you know so much about the constitution?
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Without a doubt, I'll respect the constitution.
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Mexico has no vice president, and the constitution leaves the interim selection process to the Congress.
Academic text (1999) -
Then that's decided by the Constitution and the laws and the structure of society.
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Moreover, in the context of public law, the ratification of the Constitution is the crucial historical event.
Academic text (2017)
Synonyms
1
5.6
A set of basic rules that explains how a country's government works and what rights people have
1
7.9
A basic law like a constitution that sets the main rules and structure of a government
Compounds
A written document that sets the rules and structure of the United States government
- Formal
26
3.3
The basic law of the United States that sets up the government and protects people's rights
- Formal
11
4.6
The highest law of the United States that sets the main rules for the national government
1
3.3
A law that protects freedom of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and petition
A law that banned making, selling, and moving alcoholic drinks in the United States from 1920 until 1933
- Specialized
All the genes a person, animal, or plant has that decide traits passed from their parents
A change to the United States Constitution made in 1920 that gives women the right to vote
How Authoritative
Surface Forms
Morphology
constitution = constitute (semi-transparent) = constitute + ion
Morphologically a nominalization of 'constitute', but the legal/political sense 'fundamental law or document' is specialized and not fully predictable from the verb for average learners.
Etymology
Constitution comes from the Latin constituere, with con- 'together' and stituere 'to set up', so a constitution is the set of rules that 'sets up' how a country or organisation is run, often written down in one document.