composition

noun com·po·si·tion \ ˌkäm-pə-ˈzi-shən \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Examples: composition in a Sentence

Definition of composition

1 a : 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

2 a : 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

—

compositional

play \ˌkäm-pə-ˈzish-nəl, -ˈzi-shə-nᵊl\ adjective

—

compositionally

adverb

See composition defined for English-language learners

See composition defined for kids

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 of composition from the Web

No offense to Rogers' musical talent -- his undergrad degree was in music composition -- but the songs of the cartoon spinoff are much catchier.

— david g. allan, CNN, "Mister Rogers, television's polite radical," 8 June 2018
The program was founded in 1964 by John Chowning, a composer by training who'd come to Stanford for his doctorate in music composition.

— arielle pardes, WIRED, "The Aural Magic of Stanford's Laptop Orchestra," 8 June 2018
Municipal bonds will be granted special treatment in the composition of bank capital, incentivising lenders to load up on them.

— The Economist, "A rare bipartisan moment allows a timid rollback of banking regulation," 24 May 2018
The veil also represented the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country united in a floral composition.

— brittany talarico, PEOPLE.com, "Breaking Down Meghan Markle's First Official Outfit as the Duchess of Sussex (Those Stockings!)," 22 May 2018
In Feldman’s composition, the library appears to be a sliver building, barely wide enough to accommodate its elaborate neoclassical entrance.

— inga saffron, Philly.com, "The history in pictures of West Philadelphia's forgotten 'Flatiron building' | Inga Saffron," 20 May 2018
In recent elections, as the fire union has refused even to negotiate that contract, Steele has sought leverage in the composition of city council, endorsing candidates presumably friendly to the union’s collective bargaining demands.

— brian chasnoff, San Antonio Express-News, "A politics of conspiracy, grievance and hate," 13 Apr. 2018
Finally, at the high school level, Joseph Krzywicki won in visual arts and photography, Rachel Pavelich won in literature, and Elaine Slaby won in music composition.

— charlene paparizos, cleveland.com, "North Royalton Students Move on to States in PTA Reflection Contest: Community Voices," 12 Apr. 2018
In an initial analysis of changes in sediment composition, the researchers found that the health of the pond declined with the redevelopment of the shoreline in the 1920s, which resulted in increasing numbers of visitors to the region.

— julissa treviño, Smithsonian, "Humans Have Wreaked Havoc on Walden Pond," 10 Apr. 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.

Origin and Etymology of composition

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

composition Synonyms

Synonyms

article, essay, paper, theme;

dissertation, thesis;

tract, treatise;

discourse, discussion, study;

Other Printing Terms

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

COMPOSITION Defined for English Language Learners

composition

noun

Definition of composition for English Language Learners

: 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

COMPOSITION Defined for Kids

composition

noun com·po·si·tion \ ˌkäm-pə-ˈzi-shən \

Definition of composition for Students

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

Law Dictionary

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 3, compromise