different between constitute vs underlie

English

Etymology

From Latin constitutum, past participle of constituere. Constructed from the prefix con- and statuere (“to place, set”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?nst?tju?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k?nst?t(j)u?t/

Verb

constitute (third-person singular simple present constitutes, present participle constituting, simple past and past participle constituted)

1. (transitive) To set up; to establish; to enact.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     Laws appointed and constituted by lawful authority.

2. (transitive) To make up; to compose; to form.
   • 1779–81, Samuel Johnson, "Abraham Cowley" in Lives of the Most Eminent English Poet

     Truth and reason constitute that intellectual gold that defies destruction.

3. (transitive) To appoint, depute, or elect to an office; to make and empower.
   • 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion

     Me didst Thou constitute a priest of thine.

Synonyms

• (set up): establish, enact
• (make up): make up, compose, form; see also Thesaurus:compose
• (appoint):

Related terms

• constituent
• constituency
• constitution
• constitutional
• constitutionalization
• constitutive

Translations

Noun

constitute (plural constitutes)

1. (obsolete) An established law.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of T. Preston to this entry?)

Further reading

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

Latin

Noun

c?nstit?te

1. vocative singular of c?nstit?tus

References

• constitute in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

Scots

Verb

constitute (third-person singular present constitutes, present participle constitutein, past constitutet, past participle constitutet)

1. To constitute.

English

Etymology

From Middle English underlien, underliggen, from Old English underli??an (“to underlie, to be subject to, give way to”), equivalent to under- +? lie. Cognate with Dutch onderliggen (“to lie below, lie on the bottom of”), German unterliegen (“to lie under, be subject to, succumb”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n.d?(?)?la?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Verb

underlie (third-person singular simple present underlies, present participle underlying, simple past underlay, past participle underlain)

1. (intransitive) To lie in a position directly beneath.
2. (transitive) To lie under or beneath.

   A stratum of clay underlies the surface gravel.

3. (transitive) To serve as a basis of; form the foundation of.

   a doctrine underlying a theory

   • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 6,^[1]

     […] she was carved into the bole of a red cedar tree. Sun and storm had bleached the wood, moss here and there softened the crudeness of the modelling; sincerity underlay every stroke.
4. (transitive) To be subject to; be liable to answer, as a charge or challenge.
5. (mining) To underlay.

Translations