constitutional
part of speech
adjective (constitutional); adverb constitutionally; noun (a constitutional — old-fashioned, a walk for your health)
meaning for a pupil
1) To do with a country's constitution, the main set of laws that says how the country is governed and what rights people have. tree →
2) Allowed by the constitution; a law that is «constitutional» follows those rules, and an «unconstitutional» one breaks them. tree →
3) To do with a person's body or nature, as in a «constitutional weakness». tree →
4) (noun, old-fashioned) A walk taken for your health, as in «a morning constitutional». tree →
sense in the lessons
In citizenship and history lessons: the USA has a written Constitution; the UK has a «constitutional monarchy», where the king or queen reigns but Parliament makes the laws. Australia and Canada are also constitutional monarchies. In the news: «a constitutional crisis», «a constitutional right», «constitutional court».
examples
- The UK is a constitutional monarchy, so the king does not make the laws. tree →
- Free speech is a constitutional right in the United States. tree →
- The judges decided the new law was not constitutional. tree →
- Changing the constitution needs a constitutional amendment. tree →
- Grandpa takes his morning constitutional around the park. tree →
- The class learned about constitutional government in Canada. tree →
- Some people say the vote was unconstitutional. tree →
note
Opposite: «unconstitutional». The word comes from «constitution», which also means a person's general health («a strong constitution»). The capital C «Constitution» usually means the US Constitution.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «constitutional» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.