Search Result for "constitution": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (5)

1. law determining the fundamental political principles of a government;
[syn: fundamental law, organic law, constitution]

2. the act of forming or establishing something;
- Example: "the constitution of a PTA group last year"
- Example: "it was the establishment of his reputation"
- Example: "he still remembers the organization of the club"
[syn: constitution, establishment, formation, organization, organisation]

3. the constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states;
[syn: United States Constitution, U.S. Constitution, US Constitution, Constitution, Constitution of the United States]

4. the way in which someone or something is composed;
[syn: constitution, composition, physical composition, makeup, make-up]

5. a United States 44-gun frigate that was one of the first three naval ships built by the United States; it won brilliant victories over British frigates during the War of 1812 and is without doubt the most famous ship in the history of the United States Navy; it has been rebuilt and is anchored in the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston;
[syn: Constitution, Old Ironsides]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Constitution \Con`sti*tu"tion\ (k[o^]n`st[i^]*t[=u]"sh[u^]n), n. [F. constitution, L. constitutio.] 1. The act or process of constituting; the action of enacting, establishing, or appointing; enactment; establishment; formation. [1913 Webster] 2. The state of being; that form of being, or structure and connection of parts, which constitutes and characterizes a system or body; natural condition; structure; texture; conformation. [1913 Webster] The physical constitution of the sun. --Sir J. Herschel. [1913 Webster] 3. The aggregate of all one's inherited physical qualities; the aggregate of the vital powers of an individual, with reference to ability to endure hardship, resist disease, etc.; as, a robust constitution. [1913 Webster] Our constitutions have never been enfeebled by the vices or luxuries of the old world. --Story. [1913 Webster] 4. The aggregate of mental qualities; temperament. [1913 Webster] He defended himself with . . . less passion than was expected from his constitution. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster] 5. The fundamental, organic law or principles of government of men, embodied in written documents, or implied in the institutions and usages of the country or society; also, a written instrument embodying such organic law, and laying down fundamental rules and principles for the conduct of affairs. [1913 Webster] Our constitution had begun to exist in times when statesmen were not much accustomed to frame exact definitions. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] Note: In England the constitution is unwritten, and may be modified from time to time by act of Parliament. In the United States a constitution cannot ordinarily be modified, exept through such processes as the constitution itself ordains. [1913 Webster] 6. An authoritative ordinance, regulation or enactment; especially, one made by a Roman emperor, or one affecting ecclesiastical doctrine or discipline; as, the constitutions of Justinian. [1913 Webster] The positive constitutions of our own churches. --Hooker. [1913 Webster] A constitution of Valentinian addressed to Olybrius, then prefect of Rome, for the regulation of the conduct of advocates. --George Long. [1913 Webster] Apostolic constitutions. See under Apostolic. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

constitution n 1: law determining the fundamental political principles of a government [syn: fundamental law, organic law, constitution] 2: the act of forming or establishing something; "the constitution of a PTA group last year"; "it was the establishment of his reputation"; "he still remembers the organization of the club" [syn: constitution, establishment, formation, organization, organisation] 3: the constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states [syn: United States Constitution, U.S. Constitution, US Constitution, Constitution, Constitution of the United States] 4: the way in which someone or something is composed [syn: constitution, composition, physical composition, makeup, make-up] 5: a United States 44-gun frigate that was one of the first three naval ships built by the United States; it won brilliant victories over British frigates during the War of 1812 and is without doubt the most famous ship in the history of the United States Navy; it has been rebuilt and is anchored in the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston [syn: Constitution, Old Ironsides]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

169 Moby Thesaurus words for "constitution": Bill of Rights, act, allocation, allotment, anatomy, animus, apportionment, aptitude, architectonics, architecture, arrangement, array, arraying, assemblage, assembly, bent, bias, body-build, brand, build, building, buildup, cast, character, characteristic, characteristics, collation, collocation, combination, complexion, composition, compound, concurrent resolution, conformation, constituents, constitutional amendment, constitutional guarantees, construction, crasis, creation, deployment, design, dharma, diathesis, disposal, disposition, distribution, eccentricity, effectuation, embodiment, enaction, enactment, establishment, ethos, fabric, fabrication, fashion, fashioning, fiber, forging, form, format, formation, formulation, foundation, frame, genius, getup, grain, habit, hue, humor, humors, idiosyncrasy, ilk, inauguration, inception, inclination, incorporation, individualism, installation, institution, joint resolution, junction, kidney, kind, lawmaking, leaning, legislation, legislature, make, makeup, making, manufacture, marshaling, materialization, mental set, mettle, mind, mind-set, mixture, mold, molding, nature, order, ordering, organic structure, organism, organization, passage, passing, pattern, patterning, physique, piecing together, placement, plan, predilection, predisposition, preference, proclivity, production, propensity, property, putting together, quality, realization, regimentation, resolution, set, setting-up, setup, shape, shaping, slant, somatotype, sort, spirit, stamp, strain, streak, stripe, structure, structuring, suchness, syneresis, syntax, synthesis, system, tectonics, temper, temperament, tendency, tenor, texture, tissue, tone, turn, turn of mind, twist, type, unwritten constitution, vein, warp, warp and woof, way, weave, web, written constitution
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CONSTITUTION, contracts. The constitution of a contract, is the making of the contract as, the written constitution of a debt. 1 Bell's Com. 332, 5th ed.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CONSTITUTION, government. The fundamental law of the state, containing the principles upon which the government is founded, and regulating the divisions of the sovereign powers, directing to what persons each of these powers is to be confided, and the, manner it is to be exercised as, the Constitution of the United States. See Story on the Constitution; Rawle on the Const. 2. The words constitution and government (q.v.) are sometimes employed to express the same idea, the manner in which sovereignty is exercised in each state. Constitution is also the name of the instrument containing the fundamental laws of the state. 3. By constitution, the civilians, and, from them, the common law writers, mean some particular law; as the constitutions of the emperors contained in the Code.