composer

American  

[kuhm-poh-zer] / kəmˈpoʊ zər /

noun

1. a person or thing that composes.

2. a person who writes music.

3. an author.

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composer British  

/ kəmˈpəʊzə /

noun

1. a person who composes music

2. a person or machine that composes anything, esp type for printing

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Etymology

Origin of composer

First recorded in 1555–65; compose + -er ¹

Explanation

A composer is an artist who writes music to be played or performed by musicians. A classical composer might work by writing out musical notation and trying things out on the piano. If you're a composer, you most likely write classical, jazz, music for film, or another type of primarily instrumental music, without lyrics. A writer of popular or rock music is more likely to be called a "songwriter." A composer might compose symphonies as a profession, or write short tunes as a hobby. In Old French, composer means "put together, arrange, or write," from com-, "with," and poser, "to place."

Example Sentences

In Venezuela composer Antonio Estévez’s “Cantata Criolla,” a song contest between a macho Venezuelan troubadour and the devil leads to the spiritual ecstasy of exorcism.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Baerwald, an award-winning musician, film composer and songwriter who called Los Angeles home for nearly four decades, doesn’t play the violin.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026

Before becoming a composer, Rahman spent several years as a keyboard player in Ilaiyaraaja's orchestra.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

Fun fact: In keeping with the source material’s ancient Greek nature, the movie’s composer, Ludwig Göransson, used a lyre for the score.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026

It is, however, worth mentioning Parisian composer Etienne Loulie’s startlingly forward- looking collaborative studies with the ‘father’ of the science of acoustics, Joseph Sauveur, in the 1690s.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• writer