COMPOSITION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does composition mean? 

• COMPOSITION (noun)
  The noun COMPOSITION has 9 senses:

1. the spatial property resulting from the arrangement of parts in relation to each other and to the whole

2. the way in which someone or something is composed

3. a mixture of ingredients

4. a musical work that has been created

5. musical creation

6. the act of creating written works

7. art and technique of printing with movable type

8. an essay (especially one written as an assignment)

9. something that is created by arranging several things to form a unified whole

  Familiarity information: COMPOSITION used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPOSITION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The spatial property resulting from the arrangement of parts in relation to each other and to the whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

composing; composition

Context example:

harmonious composition is essential in a serious work of art

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

arrangement; placement (the spatial property of the way in which something is placed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The way in which someone or something is composed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

composition; constitution; make-up; makeup; physical composition

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

property (a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composition"):

phenotype (what an organism looks like as a consequence of the interaction of its genotype and the environment)

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))

grain; texture (the physical composition of something (especially with respect to the size and shape of the small constituents of a substance))

genetic constitution; genotype (the particular alleles at specified loci present in an organism)

structure (the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A mixture of ingredients

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

mixture ((chemistry) a substance consisting of two or more substances mixed together (not in fixed proportions and not with chemical bonding))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composition"):

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)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A musical work that has been created

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

composition; musical composition; opus; piece; piece of music

Context example:

the composition is written in four movements

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Meronyms (parts of "composition"):

coda; finale (the closing section of a musical composition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composition"):

etude (a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity)

trio (a musical composition for three performers)

idyl; idyll; pastoral; pastorale (a musical composition that evokes rural life)

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)

musical passage; passage (a short section of a musical composition)

movement (a major self-contained part of a symphony or sonata)

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)

symphonic poem; tone poem (an orchestral composition based on literature or folk tales)

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))

song; vocal (a short musical composition with words)

study (a composition intended to develop one aspect of the performer's technique)

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)

program music; programme music (musical compositions intended to evoke images or remind the listener of events)

incidental music (music composed to accompany the action of a drama or to fill intervals between scenes)

divertimento; serenade (a musical composition in several movements; has no fixed form)

morceau (a short literary or musical composition)

sheet music (a musical composition in printed or written form)

arrangement; musical arrangement (a piece of music that has been adapted for performance by a particular set of voices or instruments)

realisation; realization (a musical composition that has been completed or enriched by someone other than the composer)

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))

duet; duette; duo (a musical composition for two performers)

quartet; quartette (a musical composition for four performers)

quintet; quintette (a musical composition for five performers)

sestet; sextet; sextette (a musical composition written for six performers)

septet; septette (a musical composition written for seven performers)

octet; octette (a musical composition written for eight performers)

bagatelle (a light piece of music for piano)

canon (a contrapuntal piece of music in which a melody in one part is imitated exactly in other parts)

Derivation:

compose (write music)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Musical creation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

composing; composition

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

creating by mental acts (the act of creating something by thinking)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composition"):

arrangement; arranging; transcription (the act of arranging and adapting a piece of music)

realisation; 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))

Derivation:

compose (write music)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The act of creating written works

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

authorship; composition; penning; writing

Context example:

it was a matter of disputed authorship

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

verbal creation (creating something by the use of speech and language)

Domain member category:

draft; outline (draw up an outline or sketch for something)

script (write a script for)

write out; write up (put into writing; write in complete form)

cite; reference (refer to)

annotate; footnote (add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments)

ghost; ghostwrite (write for someone else)

co-author (be a co-author on (a book, a paper))

author (be the author of)

adopt; dramatise; dramatize (put into dramatic form)

write copy (write for commercial publications)

rewrite (rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose)

dash off; fling off; knock off; scratch off; toss off (write quickly)

paragraph (write paragraphs; work as a paragrapher)

profile (write about)

write about; write of; write on (write about a particular topic)

compose; indite; pen; write (produce a literary work)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composition"):

drafting (writing a first version to be filled out and polished later)

adoxography (fine writing in praise of trivial or base subjects)

versification (the art or practice of writing verse)

lexicography (the act of writing dictionaries)

redaction (the act of putting something in writing)

novelisation; novelization (converting something into the form of a novel)

metrification (writing a metrical composition (or the metrical structure of a composition))

historiography (the writing of history)

fabrication; fictionalisation; fictionalization (writing in a fictional form)

dramatisation; dramatization (conversion into dramatic form)

Derivation:

compose (produce a literary work)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Art and technique of printing with movable type

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

composition; typography

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

printing; printing process (reproduction by applying ink to paper as for publication)

Sense 8

Meaning:

An essay (especially one written as an assignment)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

composition; paper; report; theme

Context example:

he got an A on his composition

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

essay (an analytic or interpretive literary composition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composition"):

term paper (a composition intended to indicate a student's progress during a school term)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Something that is created by arranging several things to form a unified whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

he envied the composition of their faculty

Hypernyms ("composition" is a kind of...):

creation (an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composition"):

paste-up (a composition of flat objects pasted on a board or other backing)

 Context examples 

The science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems.

(Chemistry, NCI Thesaurus)

It regulates part of the production and composition of CEREBROSPINAL FLUID.

(Choroid plexus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Galileo carried an infrared spectrometer, an instrument scientists use to examine the composition of a surface they're studying.

(Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa, NASA)

It found a different mineral composition at each, including a silica mineral named cristobalite in the most recent sample.

(Curiosity Eyes Prominent Mineral Veins on Mars, NASA)

By analysing the composition of sounds in a forest — called a soundscape — scientists can make cost-effective and reliable assessment of the forest, according to a new study conducted in Papua New Guinea.

(Scientists record the sound of intact forest, SciDev.Net)

The monomers can be of the same or different composition.

(Copolymer, NCI Thesaurus)

Climate change will increase forest cover and change species composition, resulting in a greater variety of leaves and plant litter falling into waterways.

(Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater ecosystems, University of Cambridge)

The scientists used the CDA's mass spectrometer measurements to determine the composition of organic material in the grains.

(New Organic Compounds Found in Enceladus Ice Grains, NASA)

The findings hint that material blown out into space may dramatically vary in composition.

(Finding Alien Life Unlikely Due to Lack of Phosphorus in Universe, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The exact composition of Cancell/Entelev is unknown, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has listed the components as inositol, nitric acid, sodium sulfite, potassium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, and catechol.

(Cancell, NCI Thesaurus)