composition

noun

com·po·si·tion | \ˌkäm-pə-ˈzi-shən

Definition of composition

1a : the act or process of composing specifically : arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic form the painting's unique composition

b(1) : the arrangement of type for printing hand composition

(2) : the production of type or typographic characters (as in photocomposition) arranged for printing

2a : the manner in which something is composed

b : general makeup the changing ethnic composition of the city's population

c : the qualitative and quantitative makeup of a chemical compound the chemical composition of a polymer

3 : mutual settlement or agreement The two parties came to a composition.

4 : a product of mixing or combining various elements or ingredients a composition of rubber and cork

5 : an intellectual creation: such as

a : a piece of writing especially : a school exercise in the form of a brief essay wrote a composition on the role of the police in our society

b : a written piece of music especially of considerable size and complexity Her composition for piano and flute was played at the recital.

6 : the quality or state of being compound

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

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Synonyms for composition

Synonyms

article, essay, paper, theme

Examples of composition in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Bertolucci combines a flawless aesthetic with a deep emphasis on composition, design, and camerawork to slowly build a devastating portrait of the kind of personality that allows fascism to flourish. — Aja Romano, Vox, "Why Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist still resonates today," 3 Dec. 2018 There are as many design differences in knives as there are brands, especially in Japanese cutlery, with varying blade alloy compositions, some for specific food preparations that border on the ceremonial. — Francine Maroukian, Popular Mechanics, "How To Buy Kitchen Knives Like a Pro," 24 Oct. 2018 Dry eye essentially means the tear film that keeps your eyes wet isn’t plentiful enough, isn’t the right composition, or ghosts your eyeballs by evaporating too quickly, the National Eye Institute explains. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Is It Terrible to Wear the Same Contact Lenses for a Long, Long Time?," 19 Oct. 2018 Next year's partisan composition, Farrier said, is hard to predict. — Darcy Costello, The Courier-Journal, "'Medicare for All' would get hearing in House if Yarmuth had his way," 27 June 2018 Data have been weighted for age, race, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the UnitedStates age 18 and over. — Colleen Leahey Mckeegan, Marie Claire, "Marie Claire's Guide to Having a Baby," 1 Oct. 2018 To choose the composition of each year’s vaccine, more than 100 centers around the globe track influenza viruses. — Tara C. Smith, SELF, "No, the Flu Shot Is Not 100 Percent Effective. Yes, You Still Need It," 27 Sep. 2018 The iron changed the elemental composition of the gas, and therefore, the stars. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The Milky Way Died 7 Billion Years Ago And Came Back To Life," 24 Aug. 2018 As Matt Ford suggested in The New Republic, now is the time for Democrats to get serious about putting the composition of the court front and center as an election issue. — Jeet Heer, The New Republic, "If Democrats want to fight Brett Kavanaugh, they have a lot of ammunition.," 10 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'composition.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near composition

composition of forces

Statistics for composition

Last Updated

11 Dec 2018

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Time Traveler for composition

The first known use of composition was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for composition

composition

noun

English Language Learners Definition of composition

: the way in which something is put together or arranged : the combination of parts or elements that make up something

: a piece of writing; especially : a brief essay written as a school assignment

: a written piece of music and especially one that is very long or complex

See the full definition for composition in the English Language Learners Dictionary

composition

noun

com·po·si·tion | \ˌkäm-pə-ˈzi-shən

Kids Definition of composition

1 : a short piece of writing done as a school exercise

2 : the act of writing words or music

3 : the manner in which the parts of a thing are put together : makeup, constitution The president discussed the population's changing composition. Each rock has a slightly different composition.

4 : a literary, musical, or artistic production

composition

noun

com·po·si·tion

Legal Definition of composition

: an agreement between an insolvent debtor and several creditors whereby partial payment of the debts discharges in full the original obligations — compare accord sense 3, compromise