Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-STIT'U-ENT, a. [L. constituens, constituo; con and statuo, to set. See Statue, Statute.]

Setting; constituting; applied to parts of a thing that are essential to it. Hence, necessary or essential; elemental; forming, composing or making as an essential part; as, oxygen and hydrogen are the constituent parts of water. Body, soul, and reason, are the three constituent parts of a man. – Dryden.