Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literatureEdit
- Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
- Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include visuals and digital space
- Composition (music), an original piece of music and its creation
- Composition (visual arts), the plan, placement or arrangement of the elements of art in a work
- Composition (Peeters), a 1921 painting by Jozef Peeters
- Composition studies, the professional field of writing instruction
- Compositions (album), an album by Anita Baker
- Digital compositing, the practice of digitally piecing together a video
Computer scienceEdit
- Function composition (computer science), an act or mechanism to combine simple functions to build more complicated ones
- Object composition, combining simpler data types into more complex data types, or function calls into calling functions
HistoryEdit
- Composition of 1867, Austro-Hungarian/German history, (Ausgleich)
- Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, English Civil War
- Composition in the Tudor conquest of Ireland
- Composition of Connacht
MathematicsEdit
- Composition (combinatorics), a way of writing a positive integer as a sum of positive integers
- Composition algebra, an algebra over a field with composing norm:
- Function composition, an operation that takes functions and gives a single function as the result
- Composition of relations, an operation that takes relations and gives a single relation as the result
- Binary function or law of composition
Other usesEdit
- Composition (fine), in legal terminology, a fine accepted in exchange to not prosecute
- Composition (objects), in philosophy, the relationship between a whole and its parts
- Chemical composition, the relative amounts of elements that constitute a substance, or the relative amount of substances that constitute a mixture
- Food composition
See alsoEdit
- Compo (disambiguation)
- Component (disambiguation)
- Compose key, a key on a computer keyboard
- Compositing window manager a component of a computer’s graphical user interface that draws windows and/or their borders
- Composition doll, a doll made of a hatdog composite material
- Composition ornament or «compo», moulded resin mixture used to form decorative mouldings, particularly for picture frames
- Composition roller, cast from a hide glue and molasses used in brayers and inking rollers for letterpress and other relief printing
- Compound (disambiguation)
- Decomposition (disambiguation)
- Fallacy of composition, logical fallacy in which one assumes that a whole has a property solely because its various parts have that property
- Food composition data, information on nutritionally important components of food
a short literary or musical composition
a musical composition in printed or written form
a piece of music that has been adapted for performance by a particular set of voices or instruments
a musical composition that has been completed or enriched by someone other than the composer
a short piece of instrumental music composed for performance between acts of a drama or opera
a musical composition or musical passage to be performed quickly in a brisk lively manner
a musical composition or musical passage to be performed at a somewhat quicker tempo than andante but not as fast as allegro
a musical composition or musical passage to be performed moderately slow
a composition of vocal music that is appropriate for opening church services
a musical composition for one voice or instrument (with or without accompaniment)
a musical composition for two performers
a musical composition for three performers
a musical composition for four performers
a musical composition for five performers
a musical composition written for six performers
a musical composition written for seven performers
a musical composition written for eight performers
a light piece of music for piano
a musical composition in several movements; has no fixed form
a contrapuntal piece of music in which a melody in one part is imitated exactly in other parts
a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity
a musical composition that evokes rural life
a baroque musical composition (usually for a keyboard instrument) with full chords and rapid elaborate runs in a rhythmically free style
a musical composition of a free form usually incorporating several familiar themes
a short section of a musical composition
a major self-contained part of a symphony or sonata
(music) a composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner
(music) a composition or passage played in a slow tempo slightly faster than largo but slower than adagio
a musical composition of several movements only loosely connected
an orchestral composition based on literature or folk tales
a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources
a pensive lyrical piece of music (especially for the piano)
(music) a composition played in adagio tempo (slowly and gracefully)
a short musical composition with words
a composition intended to develop one aspect of the performer’s technique
an instrumental composition that doesn’t adhere to rules for any specific musical form and is played with improvisation
an unaccompanied choral composition with sacred lyrics; intended to be sung as part of a church service; originated in the 13th century
musical compositions intended to evoke images or remind the listener of events
music composed to accompany the action of a drama or to fill intervals between scenes
an improvisational and emotional musical composition with an irregular form
a sheet containing the words and melody for a song (and some indication of harmony) written in simple form
sheet music to be played on a piano
a written form of a musical composition; parts for different instruments appear on separate staves on large pages
religious music for singing
an arrangement of a piece of music for performance by an orchestra or band
the instruments called for in a musical score or arrangement for a band or orchestra
a musical composition or musical passage to be performed quickly in a brisk lively manner
a musical composition or musical passage to be performed at a somewhat quicker tempo than andante but not as fast as allegro
a musical composition or musical passage to be performed moderately slow
a short movement coming between the major sections of a symphony
composition (often improvised) for a solo instrument (especially solo organ) and not a regular part of a religious service or musical performance
a canon in which the entrances of successive parts were indicated by cryptic symbols and devices (popular in the 15th and 16th centuries)
a brief introductory passage to a piece of popular music
a short musical passage
the close of a musical section
a brilliant solo passage occurring near the end of a piece of music
(music) a composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner
a fast movement (usually in triple time)
(music) an instrumental suite common in the 18th century
(music) a composition played in adagio tempo (slowly and gracefully)
a song of devotion or loyalty (as to a nation or school)
an elaborate song for solo voice
a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
a boating song sung by Venetian gondoliers
a short simple song (or the words of a poem intended to be sung)
a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person
a song celebrating the joys of drinking; sung at drinking parties
a song that is traditionally sung by the common people of a region and forms part of their culture
a German art song of the 19th century for voice and piano
a song about love or expressing love for another person
a quiet song intended to lull a child to sleep
a song that was formerly popular
a song with two or more voice parts
a song in celebration of a marriage
a song in which a line or phrase is repeated as the refrain
a song (sometimes improvised) sung by guests at a banquet
a song characteristically played outside the house of a love interest
a popular song concerned with disappointment in love
a usually rhythmical song to accompany repetitious work
a vocal passage of narrative text that a singer delivers with natural rhythms of speech
a musical passage moving from one key to another
a short musical passage that seems to have been made spontaneously without advance preparation
a repetition of a short musical passage
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
(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
Synonyms
Example Sentences
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
Since its debut, BTS’ musical appeal has reached globally largely through the septet’s extended metaphors and imagery, translating into accessible storytelling alongside boundary-pushing compositions and choreography.
—
Jeff Benjamin, Billboard, 7 Apr. 2023
The company’s CoolTrac material composition reportedly offers 136 percent more traction and stays up to 18 percent cooler than other composite decking brands.
—Kelsey Mulvey, House Beautiful, 6 Apr. 2023
Directed with aplomb by Singing Chen, the heartbreaking docudrama recounts the history of political repression in mid-century Taiwan, filling a 360 screen with handsome chiaroscuro compositions supporting classical film language.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 5 Apr. 2023
The program, which took nearly a year to develop, included researching the composers, discovering their individual bodies of work and determining how many compositions survived the war.
—Sun Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2023
The team compared these results to the remains of Troodon eggshells and did not not detect the isotopic composition which is typical for birds.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2023
In recent years, Mr. Sakamoto turned his attention to intertwining environmental themes into his compositions.
—Tim Greiving, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Apr. 2023
With an artist’s approach to material and composition, Draga & Aurel cleverly reinvents bespoke vintage design pieces, earning recognition from the design world.
—Damon Johnstun, oregonlive, 2 Apr. 2023
The protein in powders is usually sourced from either plants or animals, which means their differences lie in their amino acid profiles and composition, Kanski explains.
—Jasmine Gomez, Women’s Health, 31 Mar. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘composition.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English composicioun, from Anglo-French composicion, from Latin composition-, compositio, from componere — see compose
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of composition was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near composition
Cite this Entry
“Composition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/composition. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.
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More from Merriam-Webster on composition
Last Updated:
11 Apr 2023
— Updated example sentences
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
состав, композиция, структура, сочинение, композиционный
существительное ↓
- составление, построение; соединение
- сочинение (какого-л. произведения)
he played a piano sonata of his own composition — он сыграл фортепианную сонату своего собственного сочинения 
- грам. производство, составление сложных слов
- полигр. набор
- музыкальное сочинение, произведение; литературное произведение; произведение изобразительного искусства
- школьное, учебное сочинение
I wrote a composition about my dog — я написал сочинение о своей собаке
- курс литературной композиции
composition classes — занятия по письменной практике (по языку и стилю)
a year of English composition — годичный курс литературной композиции на английском языке
- композиция
the composition of a picture — композиция картины
the composition of speech — построение речи
- склад (ума)
not a spark of generosity in his composition — он по натуре совсем не щедр
he has a touch of madness in his composition — в его характере есть что-то безумное; он немного тронутый
- состав, структура
composition of a ministry [parliament] — состав министерства [парламента]
- спорт. состав команды
- состав (химический)
composition of a medicine [air, water] — состав лекарства [воздуха, воды]
- спец. смесь, сплав
- агрегат; составные части
- соглашение о перемирии или о прекращении военных действий
- юр. компромиссное соглашение должника с кредитором
Мои примеры
Словосочетания
the changing composition of the country’s population — изменяющийся состав населения страны
the composition of a chemical compound — состав химического соединения
the forte passages in the composition — пассажи «форте» в данной композиции
the chemical composition of the atmosphere — химический состав атмосферы
commodity composition — товарная структура
ionic composition of the atmosphere — ионная структура атмосферы
qualitative composition — качественный состав
quantitative composition — количественный состав
flush-left composition — набор с выключкой до конца влево
hot-type composition — отливной набор
interlined composition — набор на шпоны
job composition — акцидентный набор
line composition — строкоотливной набор
Примеры с переводом
Your composition is quite graceless.
Ваше сочинение довольно тяжеловесно.
The composition of the report took two months.
Составление отчёта заняло два месяца.
Scientists study the composition of the soil.
Учёные исследуют состав почвы.
He got an A on his composition.
Он получил высшую оценку за сочинение.
The orchestra played a modern composition.
Оркестр играл современную композицию.
The composition of brass includes copper and zinc.
Латунный сплав состоит из меди и цинка.
The examples are drawn from the oldest Norse composition.
Примеры взяты из старейшего древнескандинавского сочинения.
ещё 9 примеров свернуть
Примеры, ожидающие перевода
The composition has many changes of tempo. 
This composition anticipates Impressionism
The Journals contain accounts of literary composition.
Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке ☰, напротив примера.
Возможные однокоренные слова
Формы слова
noun
ед. ч.(singular): composition
мн. ч.(plural): compositions
Composition (from Lat. Compositio — composing, linking, adding) is a combination of different parts into a single whole. In our life, this term is encountered quite often, therefore, in various fields of activity, the meaning changes slightly.
Instructions
Step 1
Most often, the word «composition» can be found in the visual arts. This is the construction of a work of art, united by a common idea and character, in which everything is thought out to the smallest detail. The main thing in the composition is the artistic image, which not only has an inherent meaning, but also depicts the connection between the artist’s soul and the requirement of the time in which the picture is painted. Each composition corresponds to a certain creative search, therefore it is capable of evoking completely different emotions.
Step 2
In literature, «composition» refers to the location and coherence of a work of art, united by the author’s intention. Its elements include: parts and chapters, prefaces and scenes, dialogues and monologues, songs, etc. Descriptions of landscapes and portraits are also included in the composition. However, it cannot be regarded as a sequence of elements, it is an integral system of forms determined by the content of the work.
Step 3
The science of architectural composition studies the general patterns of building a project and the object of architecture itself. The composition itself is created by three types of means: the arrangement of volumes in space; relation, proportions, symmetry, color, scale of architectural volumes and their parts, details; the inclusion and use of elements of painting, sculpture, landscape gardening art.
Step 4
A composition in music is a piece of music that also carries a certain inherent meaning. Sounds convey the inner state of the composer, important life events, emotions (joy, sadness, etc.), etc. A multitude of techniques that convey certain shades create one integral composition.
Step 5
All types of compositions in different areas have their own characteristics, which intersect in one thing: the combination of many components into one whole work that makes sense.