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com·po·si·tion (k m p -z sh n)n.1. a. The combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole. b. The manner in which such parts are combined or related. c. General makeup: the changing composition of the electorate. d. The result or product of composing; a mixture or compound. 2. Arrangement of artistic parts so as to form a unified whole. 3. a. The art or act of composing a musical or literary work. b. A work of music, literature, or art, or its structure or organization. 4. A short essay, especially one written as an academic exercise. 5. Law A settlement whereby the creditors of a debtor about to enter bankruptcy agree, in return for some financial consideration, usually proffered immediately, to the discharge of their respective claims on receipt of payment which is in a lesser amount than that actually owed on the claim. 6. Linguistics The formation of compounds from separate words. 7. Printing Typesetting.
[Middle English composicioun, from Old French composition, from Latin compositi , compositin-, from compositus, past participle of compnere, to put together; see component.]
compo·sition·al adj. compo·sition·al·ly adv. |
composition Noun 1. the act of putting together or composing 2. something composed 3. the things or parts which make up a whole 4. a work of music, art, or literature 5. the harmonious arrangement of the parts of a work of art 6. a written exercise; an essay 7. Printing the act or technique of setting up type
Composition an aggregate; a mixture; objects or persons of different natures associated together.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | composition - the spatial property resulting from the arrangement of parts in relation to each other and to the whole; "harmonious composition is essential in a serious work of art"placement, arrangement - the spatial property of the way in which something is placed; "the arrangement of the furniture"; "the placement of the chairs" | | 2. |  composition - the way in which someone or something is composedproperty - a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class; "a study of the physical properties of atomic particles" structure - the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts; "artists must study the structure of the human body"; "the structure of the benzene molecule" phenotype - what an organism looks like as a consequence of the interaction of its genotype and the environment texture, grain - the physical composition of something (especially with respect to the size and shape of the small constituents of a substance); "breadfruit has the same texture as bread"; "sand of a fine grain"; "fish with a delicate flavor and texture"; "a stone of coarse grain" karyotype - the appearance of the chromosomal makeup of a somatic cell in an individual or species (including the number and arrangement and size and structure of the chromosomes) | | 3. | composition - a mixture of ingredientsmixture - (chemistry) a substance consisting of two or more substances mixed together (not in fixed proportions and not with chemical bonding) paste - any mixture of a soft and malleable consistency ambrosia, beebread - a mixture of nectar and pollen prepared by worker bees and fed to larvae compost - a mixture of decaying vegetation and manure; used as a fertilizer soup - any composition having a consistency suggestive of soup | | 4. |  composition - a musical work that has been created; "the composition is written in four movements"morceau - a short literary or musical composition sheet music - a musical composition in printed or written form; "she turned the pages of the music as he played" music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner realisation, realization - a musical composition that has been completed or enriched by someone other than the composer coda, finale - the closing section of a musical composition intermezzo - a short piece of instrumental music composed for performance between acts of a drama or opera allegro - a musical composition or musical passage to be performed quickly in a brisk lively manner allegretto - a musical composition or musical passage to be performed at a somewhat quicker tempo than andante but not as fast as allegro andante - a musical composition or musical passage to be performed moderately slow introit - a composition of vocal music that is appropriate for opening church services solo - a musical composition for one voice or instrument (with or without accompaniment) trio - a musical composition for three performers octette, octet - a musical composition written for eight performers canon - a contrapuntal piece of music in which a melody in one part is imitated exactly in other parts etude - a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity toccata - a baroque musical composition (usually for a keyboard instrument) with full chords and rapid elaborate runs in a rhythmically free style fantasia - a musical composition of a free form usually incorporating several familiar themes movement - a major self-contained part of a symphony or sonata; "the second movement is slow and melodic" largo - (music) a composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner larghetto - (music) a composition or passage played in a slow tempo slightly faster than largo but slower than adagio suite - a musical composition of several movements only loosely connected medley, pastiche, potpourri - a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources nocturne, notturno - a pensive lyrical piece of music (especially for the piano) adagio - (music) a composition played in adagio tempo (slowly and gracefully); "they played the adagio too quickly" song, vocal - a short musical composition with words; "a successful musical must have at least three good songs" study - a composition intended to develop one aspect of the performer's technique; "a study in spiccato bowing" capriccio - an instrumental composition that doesn't adhere to rules for any specific musical form and is played with improvisation motet - an unaccompanied choral composition with sacred lyrics; intended to be sung as part of a church service; originated in the 13th century incidental music - music composed to accompany the action of a drama or to fill intervals between scenes | | 5. | composition - musical creationrealisation, realization - the completion or enrichment of a piece of music left sparsely notated by a composer recapitulation - (music) the repetition of themes introduced earlier (especially when one is composing the final part of a movement) | | 6. | composition - the act of creating written works; "writing was a form of therapy for him"; "it was a matter of disputed authorship"adoxography - fine writing in praise of trivial or base subjects; "Elizabethan schoolboys were taught adoxography, the art of eruditely praising worthless things"; "adoxography is particularly useful to lawyers" drafting - writing a first version to be filled out and polished later metrification - writing a metrical composition (or the metrical structure of a composition) redaction - the act of putting something in writing profile - write about; "The author of this article profiles a famous painter" paragraph - write paragraphs; work as a paragrapher rewrite - rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose; "re-write a play for use in schools" write copy - write for commercial publications; "She writes copy for Harper's Bazaar" draft, outline - draw up an outline or sketch for something; "draft a speech" author - be the author of; "She authored this play" co-author - be a co-author on (a book, a paper) ghostwrite, ghost - write for someone else; "How many books have you ghostwritten so far?" annotate, footnote - add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments; "The scholar annotated the early edition of a famous novel" write out, write up - put into writing; write in complete form; "write out a contract" script - write a script for; "The playwright scripted the movie" | | 7. |  composition - art and technique of printing with movable type | | 8. | composition - an essay (especially one written as an assignment); "he got an A on his composition"essay - an analytic or interpretive literary composition term paper - a composition intended to indicate a student's progress during a school term | | 9. | composition - something that is created by arranging several things to form a unified whole; "he envied the composition of their faculty"creation - an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone paste-up - a composition of flat objects pasted on a board or other backing; "they showed him a paste-up of the book jacket" |
composition  Translations
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