1. forming an essential part of something; having the power to establish or give organized existence to something
2. having the power to enact or establish
Usage: legal; formal

Examples

• Freedom of speech is a constitutive element of democracy.
• The constitutive assembly drafted the new constitution.
• Water is constitutive of all living organisms.
• The constitutive principles of the organization were clearly defined.
• These rules are constitutive of the game itself.
• The constitutive power of the legislature allows it to create new laws.