comprise
Americanverb (used with object)
-
comprises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
comprised,
past participle, past
-
comprising
present participle
-
to include or contain.
The Soviet Union comprised several socialist republics.
-
to consist of; be composed of.
The advisory board comprises six members.
-
to form or constitute.
Seminars and lectures comprised the day's activities.
idioms
verb
-
to include; contain
-
to constitute the whole of; consist of
her singing comprised the entertainment
Usage
The use of of after comprise should be avoided: the library comprises (not comprises of ) 500 000 books and manuscripts
Synonym Usage
See include.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
comprisesimple
-
comprisessimple
-
have comprisedperfect
-
has comprisedperfect
-
am comprisingprogressive
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are comprisingprogressive
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is comprisingprogressive
-
have been comprisingperfect progressive
-
has been comprisingperfect progressive
Past
-
comprisedsimple
-
had comprisedperfect
-
was comprisingprogressive
-
were comprisingprogressive
-
had been comprisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of comprise
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English comprisen, from Middle French compris (past participle of comprendre ), from Latin comprehēnsus; see comprehension
Explanation
When something comprises other things, it is made up of them or formed from them. The periodic table comprises 118 elements, because the whole comprises the parts. In its traditional use, the word comprise is the opposite of compose: if A comprises X, Y, and Z, then X, Y, and Z compose A. But because compose and comprise sound so much alike, people have long confused the two. So now you often hear things like "The band is comprised of a guitarist, a bassist, and a hairy drummer," whereas sticklers would prefer "is composed of" in that sentence. The word is undergoing a usage shift, making it just as hairy as that drummer!
Vocabulary lists containing comprise
List 1
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Hatchet
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Roughly 85 percent of water systems serve communities of fewer than 50,000, communities that together comprise less than 10 percent of the entire U.S. population.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
"Those 5,000 people comprise a community. Not just men and women under stress. It's a community under stress."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
U.S. revenues now comprise 81% of the overall business, up from 73% last year, Palantir CFO David Glazer told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Total orders for durable goods – which comprise goods meant to last three years or more – increased in June by 0.3% to $334.8 billion, compared with a 4% decrease in May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Or: His attentions were both pleasing and flattering. comprise.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Undergraduate education comprises three elements: students, teachers and classes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Richard Booth, station manager for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, told the BBC the building, which comprises several businesses and residential flats, was "not safe to go into".
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
A third floor comprises the master bedroom, surrounded by three decks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
As Herzog moves the sisters between reality and film’s dreamy latter half, he plunges into the fizzy static that comprises their cosmic connection, examining their solitude as only he can.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
The first-class citizenry comprises the chief, who has authority over the whole village, his aides, and the Khmer Rouge soldiers.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Lee's office said it would be an expansion of earlier assistance which was comprised of non-lethal items including helmets, personal armour and medical equipment.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
The transaction implies a total enterprise value of approximately $7.7 billion, comprised of an equity purchase price of approximately $4.6 billion and approximately $3.1 billion of debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Lorena Gonzalez, president of California Labor Federation, said Regan’s union is overwhelmingly comprised of women and women of color, who just reelected him to a position he’s held for 16 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The Independent Grocers Alliance, comprised of 7,500 supermarkets, says fuel is 15% to 30% of the total cost of food.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
As they walked along, Santa described to Mrs. Reilly the many sadnesses and tribulations that had comprised old lady Lopez’s dismal existence.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Utilities in Southern states asked for $2.2 billion in rate hikes during the third quarter, according to PowerLines, comprising the steepest requests in the country.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
The council owns a County Farms Estate, comprising about 16,500 acres and 149 holdings for tenants.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
By researching court records and newspapers, Mr. White discovered new information about this important neighborhood, comprising some 264 people in 1855, which was torn down during the construction of Central Park.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
The vast Theban necropolis, comprising an area of around 10km², was Egypt’s main royal and elite cemetery for half a millennium, from ca.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
With his passing, he evaded the overwhelming consequence of his success: the challenge of consolidating a polyglot empire unprecedented in size and comprising peoples who, by and large, despised each other.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
