composite

American  

[kuhm-poz-it] / kəmˈpɒz ɪt /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Etymology

Origin of composite

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

Explanation

A composite is something made up of complicated and related parts. A composite photograph of your family might have your eyes, your sister’s nose, your dad’s mouth, and your mother’s chin. Composite comes from the Latin for "putting together." It can be used as a noun or adjective. If you and five friends put together a map showing all the places each of you has ever lived, you’ve created a composite. You could also describe it as a composite map of your lives. Composite is also the name of a family of plants that have many little flowers wound so densely together that it just looks like one flower.

Example Sentences

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite both fell for a second consecutive day on Monday, according to FactSet data.

From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026

A composite index tracking global container-shipping spot prices is up more than 30% since the start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

Treasury note to its highest level in more than a year, and halting a stock rally that had just carried the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite to new records.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 370 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

The torsion on the clamp snapped the strong composite like a brittle twig.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir