composite

[kuhm-poz-it]

adjective

1. made up of disparate or separate parts or elements; compound.

   a composite drawing; a composite philosophy.

2. Botany.,  belonging to the Compositae.

3. (initial capital letter),  noting or pertaining to one of the five classical orders, popular especially since the beginning of the Renaissance but invented by the ancient Romans, in which the Roman Ionic and Corinthian orders are combined, so that four diagonally set Ionic volutes, variously ornamented, rest upon a bell of Corinthian acanthus leaves.

4. Rocketry.

   1. (of a rocket or missile) having more than one stage.

   2. (of a solid propellant) made up of a mixture of fuel and oxidizer.

5. Nautical.,  noting a vessel having frames of one material and shells and decking of another, especially one having iron or steel frames with shells and decks planked.

6. Mathematics.,  of or relating to a composite function or a composite number.

noun

1. something composite; a compound.

2. Botany.,  a composite plant.

3. a picture, photograph, or the like, that combines several separate pictures.

verb (used with object)

composited, compositing 

1. to make a composite of.

composite

/ ˈkɒmpəzɪt /

adjective

1. composed of separate parts; compound

2. of, relating to, or belonging to the plant family Asteraceae

3. maths capable of being factorized or decomposed

   a composite function

4. (sometimes capital) denoting or relating to one of the five classical orders of architecture: characterized by a combination of the Ionic and Corinthian styles See also Doric Tuscan

noun

1. something composed of separate parts; compound

2. any plant of the family Asteraceae (formerly Compositae ), typically having flower heads composed of ray flowers (e.g. dandelion), disc flowers (e.g. thistle), or both (e.g. daisy)

3. a material, such as reinforced concrete, made of two or more distinct materials

4. a proposal that has been composited

verb

1. (tr) to merge related motions from local branches of (a political party, trade union, etc) so as to produce a manageable number of proposals for discussion at national level

Other Word Forms

• compositely adverb
• compositeness noun
• hypercomposite adjective
• noncomposite adjective
• noncompositely adverb
• noncompositeness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of composite¹

1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin compositus (past participle of compōnere to put together), equivalent to com- com- + positus placed; posit

Word History and Origins

Origin of composite¹

C16: from Latin compositus well arranged, from compōnere to collect, arrange; see _component

Example Sentences

None of the women went by “Tokyo Rose” — it was a composite, a nickname used by GIs who never knew how many there were.

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For a while, investors cheered the dissipating fog, with the Nasdaq composite surging as much as 2.6%.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For the first time in 138 trading sessions, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite Monday dipped below their 50-day moving averages.

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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite on Monday fell below their 50-day moving averages for the first time since trade and tariff turmoil began to ease in May.

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The declines helped the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite on Monday to step past a line they hadn’t crossed in 138 straight trading days—and not in the direction many investors hoped.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal