Costituisti

Costituisti is an Italian term that can have two limited meanings depending on context. Primarily, it is the second-person singular passato remoto of the verb costituire, meaning “you constituted” or “you formed.” This form appears mainly in historical or literary narratives and is uncommon in everyday speech, where the passato prossimo would typically be used (hai costituito, hai formato).

As a noun, costituisti is rare and not standard for referring to people who helped establish a constitution or political body. The more common noun in Italian for such individuals is costituenti (the members of a constituent assembly or those who drafted a constitution). When costituisti appears as a noun, it is usually in older texts or in regions where nonstandard or archaic forms persist, and it should be treated as nonstandard or archaic in contemporary usage.

Etymologically, both uses derive from costituire, which means to constitute, establish, or form, and share its roots with terms relating to constitutions and institutions. In modern Italian, careful distinction is made: costituire for the verb in present usage, and costituenti for the collective noun referencing constitutional participants.