constipate

See also: constípate

English

Etymology

The adjective is first attested circa 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1541; inherited from Middle English constipat(e) (“constipated”), borrowed Medieval Latin cōnstīpātus (“constipated”) (or through its Old French equivalent constipé), perfect passive participle of Medieval Latin cōnstīpō (“to cause constipation, to constipate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Classical Latin cōnstīpō (“to crowd or press tightly together”) (whence obsoleted sense 2 and 3), itself from con- +‎ stīpō (“to press, cram”). Cognate with Middle English constipen (“to constipate”) and doublet of costive; related to stiff.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnstɪˌpeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

constipate (third-person singular simple present constipates, present participle constipating, simple past and past participle constipated)

1. (ambitransitive) To cause constipation in, render costive.

   The medication can constipate you if you’re not drinking enough water.

   The long hours of travel seemed to constipate his digestion.

   A lack of fiber can constipate the body, leading to discomfort.

2. (obsolete, medicine) To constrict, contract (tissues, the body, fibres, etc.); to make firm and compact by pressing together.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

3. (obsolete) To pack or crowd together.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• constipative

Related terms

• constipation

Translations

to cause constipation in

• Bulgarian: причинявам запек (pričinjavam zapek)
• Finnish: ummettaa (fi), aiheuttaa ummetusta, kovettaa vatsaa
• French: constiper (fr)
• Galician: estrinxir (gl)
• German: verstopfen (de)
• Irish: triomaigh
• Japanese: 便秘する (べんぴ-する, benpi-suru)
• Romanian: constipa (ro)
• Russian: вызывать запор impf (vyzyvatʹ zapor), крепить (ru) impf (krepitʹ)
• Spanish: estreñir (es)

to pack or crowd together

• German: überfüllen (de)

Adjective

constipate (comparative more constipate, superlative most constipate) (obsolete)

1. Constipated, costive.
   • 1697, Robert Peirce, Bath Memoirs, or Observations in three-and-forty years, II. i. 255:

     By […] much Sweating, the Bowels were heated, and dry'd, and rendred Constipate.

Anagrams

• copatients, spectation

Latin

Verb

cōnstīpāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of cōnstīpō

Spanish

Verb

constipate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of constipar combined with te