tr.v. con·sti·tu·tion·al·ized, con·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·ing, con·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·es 1. To provide with or make subject to a constitution. 2. To incorporate into or sanction under a constitution: "The Fourteenth Amendment ... constitutionalized the vast shift of power from the states to the federal government, which the Civil War had accomplished" (Eric Foner). 3. To treat (an inappropriate matter) as being subject to constitutional law: "Today a like kind of wisdom might caution against constitutionalizing every grievance that might (or might not) appear tomorrow" (Potter Stewart). con′sti·tu′tion·al·i·zation (-lĭ-zāshən) n. |
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