composite

adjective

com·pos·ite | \ käm-ˈpä-zət

, kəm-ˈpä-, especially British ˈkäm-pə-zit

Definition of composite

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : made up of distinct parts or elements a composite photograph composite materials : such as

a capitalized : relating to or being a modification of the Corinthian order combining angular Ionic volutes with the acanthus-circled bell of the Corinthian

b : of or relating to a very large family (Compositae synonym Asteraceae) of dicotyledonous herbs, shrubs, and trees often considered to be the most highly evolved plants and characterized by florets arranged in dense heads that resemble single flowers

c : factorable into two or more prime factors other than 1 and itself 8 is a positive composite integer.

2 : combining the typical or essential characteristics of individuals making up a group … the composite man called the Poet …— Richard Poirier … the knight was a composite portrait of men whom Chaucer personally knew.— John Livingston Lowes

3 of a statistical hypothesis : specifying a range of values for one or more statistical parameters — compare simple sense 10

4 of a video signal : having two signal components (such as chrominance and luminance) combined in a single channel For years, commercial television equipment has relied upon composite video cabling, which carries both brightness (luminance) and color (chroma) in a single cable. Problem is, before your television can produce a picture from this signal, it must be heavily filtered, resulting in serious degradation of image quality. — Home Theater Buyer's Guide — compare component entry 2 sense 2

composite

noun

Definition of composite (Entry 2 of 3)

1 : something composite : compound a composite of two images

2 : a composite (see composite entry 1 sense 1b) plant daisys, dandelions, and other composites

3 : composite function

4 : a solid material which is composed of two or more substances having different physical characteristics and in which each substance retains its identity while contributing desirable properties to the whole especially : a structural material made of plastic within which a fibrous material (such as silicon carbide) is embedded

composite

verb

composited; compositing

Definition of composite (Entry 3 of 3)

transitive verb

: to make composite or into something composite composited four soil samples composite the images

Other Words from composite Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about composite

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Examples of composite in a Sentence

Adjective

the movie's special effects included the use of many composite photographs

Noun

a composite of diverse communities He spotted a man who resembled the police composite.

Verb

wood chips can be composited or sold as mulch

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Ultimately Okhotnik will feature the use of composite materials and an anti-radar skin coating to further reduce its radar signature. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "This Is Russia’s First Autonomous Strike Drone," 25 Jan. 2019 Encased in a burly 14-1/2-foot engine capsule, and with 16 blades crammed into a composite fan stretching 11 feet in diameter, the GE9X will be the biggest turbine engine in the world when the 777X takes to the skies later this year. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Boeing's "Transonic" Wings Will Carry Airliners to Nearly the Speed of Sound at Higher Altitudes," 9 Jan. 2019 Research scientists at Rise developed a composite wood without additives like paint or dye, which gives its bright white color. — Liz Stinson, Curbed, "Sleek new speaker features recyclable wood cabinet," 27 Dec. 2018 But, cool them enough, and two helium atoms can pair up to create a composite boson. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Super-solid helium state confirmed in beautiful experiment," 10 Dec. 2018 But otherwise, the devices are identical, with a full-size HDMI port, CSI camera port, DSI display port, stereo output and composite video port, and a micro SD port. — Michael Simon, PCWorld, "A new Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ has arrived with Bluetooth 4.2 and dual-band Wi-Fi for $25," 15 Nov. 2018 The skull recovered from the woods had multiple composite fillings and one root canal involving a tooth of the lower jaw, according to FOX5. — Travis Fedschun, Fox News, "3D model of head released in hopes of identifying remains found in Georgia woods," 19 Sep. 2018 The base structure of the heat shield is a titanium truss covered with a composite substrate (or skin) that has several layers of carbon fiber. — Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, "NASA's Orion Spacecraft Gets Heat Shield for Daring Test Flight to the Moon," 21 Aug. 2018 To attract bees and other pollinators, Saska recommends choosing flowers with a composite shape, like zinnias, cosmos, daisies, sunflowers, and purple coneflower. — Rebecca Straus, Good Housekeeping, "Why You Should Always Plant Flowers in Your Vegetable Patch," 15 Aug. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed 1.7 percent to 6,908.82. — Annabelle Liang, The Seattle Times, "Asian shares fall on sign of escalating US-China tensions," 20 Nov. 2018 The resulting image is a composite stitched together from data collected from dozens of Proba-2 images. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Here's Our First Look at the Sun's North Pole," 7 Dec. 2018 Fong told the California paper that the agency’s estimates for future inflation are based on a composite of figures from Moody’s, the California Department of Transportation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Energy. — Barnini Chakraborty, Fox News, "California bullet train project on track to blow through billions of more dollars," 31 Aug. 2018 The index is a composite of 10 forward-looking economic stats, including building permits, new factory orders and unemployment claims, and attempts to predict general economic conditions six months out. — David Lazarus, latimes.com, "California Inc.: How it will be, there's one for you, 19 for me — here comes the tax man," 16 Apr. 2018 Each image is actually a composite of several that Silver digitally stitches together. — Lauren Piro, House Beautiful, "These Panoramas of Church Ceilings Are Truly Jaw-Dropping," 28 Sep. 2015 The Nasdaq composite rose 159 points, or 2.3 percent, to 7,242. — Marley Jay, The Seattle Times, "Stocks surge as Powell hints at slower interest rate hikes," 28 Nov. 2018 The composite showed a man with blond hair, blue eyes and a pale complexion. — Kathleen Foody, Fox News, "Colorado police make arrest in 30-year-old slaying of woman," 20 Sep. 2018 Missing from the set’s liner notes is whether songs on the original album were complete takes or composites spliced together from the set’s outtakes. — Marc Myers, WSJ, "‘Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills’ Review: A Classic Album’s Untold Story," 20 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Google This feature also taps into a burst of multiple images, and then uses Google’s Pixel Visual Core chip to composite a blur-free photo. — Jon Phillips, PCWorld, "Google Pixel 3: The 5 features that matter most," 9 Oct. 2018 Smart marvels at the hype around Georgia’s most recent recruiting class, which snapped Alabama’s seven-year stranglehold on the top spot in the 247Sports composite ranking. — Andy Staples, SI.com, "Kirby Smart Won't Let the Search for New Leaders Change Georgia's End Goal," 26 Mar. 2018 Facebook's issues have hurt the Nasdaq composite the most. — Adam Shell, USA TODAY, "Stock market rattled by Facebook, other worries," 19 Mar. 2018 Georgia, currently No. 2 in the 247Sports composite behind Ohio State, has six with five-star ratings. — Michael Casagrande, AL.com, "Why Alabama's run of 7 straight No. 1 recruiting classes is in serious trouble," 5 Feb. 2018 Miami’s recruiting class has a good chance to finish in the top 5 of the 247Sports composite ranking and perhaps no group is stronger than the Hurricanes running backs. — David Wilson Diehards, ajc, "Miami recruiting: How Mark Walton’s injury could affect Hurricanes’ future at RB," 10 Oct. 2017 FILE PHOTO (EDITORS NOTE: COMPOSITE OF TWO IMAGES - Image numbers (L) 630131844 and 619019694) In this composite image a comparision has been made between Antonio Conte, Manager of Chelsea (L) and Arsene Wenger, Manager of Arsenal. — SI.com, "Chelsea vs Arsenal Preview as Champions Prepare to Meet London Rivals in Beijing," 19 July 2017 In the same 247Sports composite ranking, Herbert was 39th. — Andrew Greif, OregonLive.com, "Oregon QB Justin Herbert, with help from Mannings, says his confidence has improved most," 14 July 2017 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State defensive end commit Brenton Cox of Stockbridge, Ga., earned a fifth star in his 247Sports composite ranking on Tuesday, giving Urban Meyer two five-star defensive line pledges in his 2018 recruiting class. — Ari Wasserman, cleveland.com, "Micah Parsons and more: Looking at Ohio State's top remaining defensive line targets," 31 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'composite.' 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 composite

Statistics for composite

Last Updated

6 Feb 2019

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Time Traveler for composite

The first known use of composite was in 1563

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More Definitions for composite

composite

adjective

Financial Definition of composite

What It Is

A composite is a grouping of securities, indexes or other items.

How It Works

One of the most well-known composites in the finance world is the Dow Jones Composite Average, which is a price-weighted average of the 65 companies that compose the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, and the Dow Jones Utility Average. The index is price-weighted, meaning that the stocks with the highest prices have the most influence on the index.

Why It Matters

Composites are broad measures and usually a convenient way to evaluate the performance of a wide array of securities, other indexes or other items. For instance, the Dow Jones Composite Index gives a good indication of the overall direction of the largest companies in the United States: It includes some of the titans of the transportation, utility, financial services, technology, retail, entertainment and consumer goods industries. As such, the index is not just a measure of market performance; some consider it an economic indicator as well.

Source: Investing Answers

composite

adjective