composition

English

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composition

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English composicioun, borrowed from Old French composicion, from Latin compositiō, compositiōnem.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒmpəˈzɪʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

composition (countable and uncountable, plural compositions)

1. The act of putting together; assembly.
2. A mixture or compound; the result of composing.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 291, column 2:

     Ste. What do'st thou know me for?
     Kent. A Knave, a Rascall, [...] one that would'st be a Baud in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a Kave, Begger, Coward, Pandar, and the Sonne and Heire of a Mungrill Bitch, one whom I will beate in to clamours whining, if thou deny'st the least sillable of thy addition.

3. The proportion of different parts to make a whole.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Exodus 30:37:

     And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord.

4. The general makeup of a thing or person.
   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     John of Gaunt. O how that name befits my composition!
     Old Gaunt indeed, and gaunt in being old:
     Within me grief hath kept a tedious fast;
     And who abstains from meat that is not gaunt?

   • 1932, Frank Richards, The Magnet - Bunter's Night Out:

     It seemed that the milk of human kindness had not been left out of his composition.

5. (obsolete) An agreement or treaty used to settle differences; later especially, an agreement to stop hostilities; a truce.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes , book I, London: Val Simmes for Edward Blount , →OCLC:

     It will stoope and yeeld upon better compositions to him that shall make head against it.

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , lines 1-3:

     If the Duke, with the other dukes, come not to composition with the king of Hungary, why then all the dukes fall upon the king.

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     That now
     Sweno, the Norways’ king, craves composition:
     Nor would we deign him burial of his men
     Till he disbursed at Saint Colme’s inch
     Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

   • 1630, John Smith, True travels, Kupperman, published 1988, page 50:

     with an incredible courage they advanced to the push of the Pike with the defendants, that with the like courage repulsed […], that the Turks retired and fled into the Castle, from whence by a flag of truce they desired composition.

   • 1754, David Hume, The History of England‎, volume I, London: T. Cadell, published 1773, page 8:

     […] the Britons, by rendering the war thus bloody, seemed determined to cut off all hopes of peace or composition with the enemy.

6. (obsolete) A payment of money in order to clear a liability or obligation; a settling or fine.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     He hath perverted a young gentlewoman here in Florence, of a most chaste renown; and this night he fleshes his will in the spoil of her honour: he hath given her his monumental ring, and thinks himself made in the unchaste composition.

   • 1688, Parliament of England, Toleration Act 1688, section 3:

     That all and every person and persons already convicted or prosecuted in order to conviction of recusancy […] shall be thenceforth exempted and discharged from all the penalties, seizures, forfeitures, judgments, and executions, incurred by force of any of the aforesaid Statutes, without any composition, fee, or further charge whatsoever.

   • 1742, [Edward Young], “Night the”, in The Complaint, London: , →OCLC:

     Insidious death! should his strong hand arrest,
     No composition sets the prisoner free.

   1. (Singapore, law) A payment of fine in order to settle a (usually minor) criminal charge.
7. (law) an agreement or compromise by which a creditor or group of creditors accepts partial payment from a debtor.
8. An essay.
9. (linguistics) The formation of compound words from separate words.
10. A work of music, literature or art.
    • 1818, Jane Austen, A letter dated 8 September 1818:

      and how good Mrs. West could have written such books and collected so many hard words, with all her family cares, is still more a matter of astonishment. Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb.

11. (printing) Typesetting.
12. (mathematics) Applying a function to the result of another.
13. (physics) The compounding of two velocities or forces into a single equivalent velocity or force.
14. (obsolete) Consistency; accord; congruity.
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

      There is no composition in these news
      That gives them credit.

15. Synthesis as opposed to analysis.
    • 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. , London: Sam Smith, and Benj Walford, printers to the Royal Society, , →OCLC:

      The investigation of difficult things by the method of analysis ought ever to precede the method of composition.

16. (painting, photography) The arrangement and flow of elements in a picture.
17. (object-oriented programming) Way to combine simple objects or data types into more complex ones.

Synonyms

• (general makeup of a thing or person): configuration, constitution; see also Thesaurus:composition
• (mixture or compound): blend, melange; see also Thesaurus:mixture
• (work of music, literature or art): See also Thesaurus:musical composition

Derived terms

Related terms

• composite
• compositing
• compositional
• compositionism
• compositionist

Descendants

• → Korean: 컴포지션 (keompojisyeon)

Translations

References

Anagrams

• monisotopic

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French composicion, borrowed from Latin compositiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.po.zi.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

composition f (plural compositions)

1. composition, makeup
2. essay

   Synonyms: essai, dissertation, rédaction

3. composition, work of art

   Synonym: œuvre

4. (linguistics) composition, formation of compound words
5. (printing) composition, typesetting
6. (sports) lineup
7. (object-oriented programming) composition

Related terms

• composer
• compositeur

Descendants

• → Korean: 콩포지숑 (kongpojisyong) (rare)
• → Turkish: kompozisyon

Further reading

• “composition”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French composicion.

Noun

composition f (plural compositions)

1. agreement; accord; pact

Descendants

• French: composition