Constituencies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A body of voters or geographical areas that elect officials to represent them
2. A segment of the electorate linked to a designated representative within a legislative framework
3. Areas or groups of people entitled to vote for political representatives

Etymology: "Constituencies" is the plural of "constituency," a word built from "constituent" plus the suffix "-ency." The base word "constituent" comes from the Latin "constituere," meaning "to set up, establish, or put together," formed from "com-" (together) and "statuere" (to set up). Something constituent is one of the parts that makes up a whole, and a constituency is, at root, the body of people who make up a political whole. The suffix "-ency," borrowed from Latin "-entia" through French, turns an adjective or agent into a noun of state or collection. So the sense moved from the parts of a whole to the group of those parts, which in political use means the voters who together form an electorate. The word's plural form reflects the many separate areas or groups that each send a representative.

Synonyms: districts, electorates, regions