composition

com·po·si·tion

noun \ˌkäm-pə-ˈzi-shən\

Definition of COMPOSITION

1

a : the act or process of composing; specifically : arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic form b (1) : the arrangement of type for printing <hand composition> (2) : the production of type or typographic characters (as in photocomposition) arranged for printing

2

a : the manner in which something is composed b : general makeup <the changing ethnic composition of the city — Leonard Buder> c : the qualitative and quantitative makeup of a chemical compound

3

: mutual settlement or agreement

4

: a product of mixing or combining various elements or ingredients

5

: an intellectual creation: as a : a piece of writing; especially : a school exercise in the form of a brief essay b : a written piece of music especially of considerable size and complexity

6

: the quality or state of being compound

7

: the operation of forming a composite function; also : composite function

— com·po·si·tion·al \-ˈzish-nəl, -ˈzi-shə-n^əl\ adjective

— com·po·si·tion·al·ly adverb

Examples of COMPOSITION

1. the changing composition of the country's population
2. the composition of a chemical compound
3. The teacher reminded us to hand in our compositions at the end of class.

Origin of COMPOSITION

Middle English composicioun, from Anglo-French composicion, from Latin composition-, compositio, from componere

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to COMPOSITION

Synonyms: number, opus, piece, work

Related Words: classic, magnum opus, masterpiece, pièce de résistance, showpiece; model, outline, sketch; étude; canon, corpus, oeuvre

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Other Printing Terms

epigraph, errata, leader, mechanical, notch, tittle, underscore, widow

Rhymes with COMPOSITION

acoustician, acquisition, admonition, aesthetician, air-condition, ammunition, apparition, apposition, coalition, co-edition, competition, cosmetician, decommission, decondition, definition, demolition, deposition, dietitian, disposition, disquisition, electrician, erudition, exhibition, expedition, exposition, extradition, first edition, imposition, in addition, inanition, in commission, inhibition, inquisition, intermission, intromission, intuition, linguistician, logistician, malnutrition, malposition, manumission, mathematician, mechanician, micturition, obstetrician, on commission, opposition, Ordovician, parturition, politician, precognition, precondition, premonition, preposition, proposition, recognition, recondition, repetition, requisition, rescue mission, rhetorician, self-ignition, statistician, submunition, superstition, supposition, text edition, trade edition, transposition