different between constituent vs crumb

English

Etymology

From Latin c?nstitu?ns, present participle of c?nstitu? (“I establish”), from com- (“together”) + statuo (“I set, place, establish”); see statute or statue, and compare institute and restitute.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?st?tju?nt/, /k?n?st?t?u?nt/

Adjective

constituent (not comparable)

1. being a part, or component of a whole
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     Body, soul, and reason are the three parts necessarily constituent of a man.

2. authorized to make a constitution
   • 1769, Junius, letter on 19 December, 1769, (part of Letters of Junius)

     A question of right arises between the constituent and representative body.

Related terms

Translations

Noun

constituent (plural constituents)

1. A part, or component of a whole
   • 1865, John Tyndall, The Constitution of the Universe (1869), page 11

     We know how to bring these constituents together, and to cause them to form water.

2. A person or thing which constitutes, determines, or constructs
   • 1677, Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature

     whose first composure and origination requires a higher and nobler Constituent than either Chance or the ordinary method of meer Natural causes.

3. A resident of an area represented by an elected official, particularly in relation to that official.
4. A voter who supports a [political] candidate; a supporter of a cause.
5. (law) One who appoints another to act for him as attorney in fact

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

6. (grammar) A functional element of a phrase or clause

Translations

See also

• Constituent (linguistics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• constituent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• constituent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin constituens.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /kons.ti.tu?ent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /kuns.ti.tu?en/

Adjective

constituent (masculine and feminine plural constituents)

1. constituent (being a part of a whole)

Related terms

• constituir

Further reading

• “constituent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??s.ti.ty/

Verb

constituent

1. third-person plural present/subjunctive of constituer

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kon?sti.tu.ent/, [kõ??s?t??t?u?n?t?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kon?sti.tu.ent/, [k?n?st?i?t?u?n?t?]

Verb

c?nstituent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of c?nstitu?

Romanian

Etymology

From French constituant

Noun

constituent n (plural constituen?i)

1. constituent

Declension

English

Alternative forms

• crimb (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *kr?mô (“fragment, crumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *gr?-mo- (“something scraped together, lumber, junk; to claw, scratch”), from *ger- (“to turn, bend, twist, wind”). The b is excrescent, as in limb and climb, appearing in the mid 15th century to match crumble and words like dumb, numb, thumb. Cognate with Dutch kruim (“crumb”), Low German Krome, Krume (“crumb”), German Krume (“crumb”), Danish krumme (“crumb”), Swedish dialectal krumma (“crumb”), Swedish inkråm (“crumbs, giblets”), Icelandic krumur (“crumb”), Latin gr?mus (“a little heap”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Noun

crumb (countable and uncountable, plural crumbs)

1. A small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).

   • desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table

   • At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.

2. A small piece of other material, such as rubber.
   • 2012, Caroline Joy Adams, An Italic Calligraphy Handbook (page 79)

     Then erase any pencil lines with a good, soft eraser, rubbing gently, in only one direction. A dustbrush can be useful in removing any eraser crumbs.

3. (figuratively) A bit, small amount.

4. The soft internal portion of bread, surrounded by crust.
   • 1861, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford

     Dust unto dust, what must be, must; / If you can't get crumb, you'd best eat crust.

5. A mixture of sugar, cocoa and milk, used to make industrial chocolate.
6. (slang) A nobody; a worthless person.
   • 1999, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice on the Outside (page 146)

     All Dad can think of is a gift certificate from the Melody Inn? And my crumb of a boyfriend doesn't even show up? This is a birthday?

7. (slang) A body louse (Pediculus humanus).

Synonyms

• (crumbled food): crumbling
• (small amount): see also Thesaurus:modicum.

Derived terms

Related terms

• crumble
• crumpet
• crumbum

Translations

Verb

crumb (third-person singular simple present crumbs, present participle crumbing, simple past and past participle crumbed)

1. (transitive) To cover with crumbs.
2. (transitive) To break into crumbs or small pieces with the fingers; to crumble.

   to crumb bread

Derived terms

• crumbed

Related terms

• crumple

Translations