Meaning & use
composition
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
The parts or ingredients that make up something, and the way they combine.
Grammar: Often followed by of: the composition of the soil.
Patterns
- the composition of something
Scientists studied the chemical composition of the rock.
The composition of the committee changed after the election.
Air has a stable composition of mostly nitrogen and oxygen.
nouncountable
A piece of music, writing, or art that someone has created.
Grammar: Countable: an original composition.
Patterns
- a composition by someone
The orchestra performed a new composition by a local student.
Her composition on the sea won the school prize.
noununcountable
The act of creating a piece of music or writing, or the skill of arranging elements in a picture.
Grammar: No plural: the composition of the song took months.
Patterns
- the composition of something
The composition of the symphony took nearly two years.
A good photograph depends on careful composition.
nouncountableold-fashioned
A short essay written as a school exercise.
Grammar: Common in school settings: write a composition.
Patterns
- write a composition about something
We had to write a composition about our summer holiday.
The teacher read my composition aloud.
Word forms
| plural | compositions |
|---|
Common combinations
- chemical composition
- The chemical composition of the water was tested.
- musical composition
- The musical composition lasts about twelve minutes.
- the composition of the team
- The composition of the team will be announced Friday.
- an original composition
- He played an original composition at the concert.
- body composition
- Doctors measured his body composition, including muscle and fat.
- balanced composition
- The painting has a balanced composition.
Synonyms and how they differ
- makeup
- Makeup is the informal word for what something consists of, while composition is more technical.
- structure
- Structure focuses on arrangement, whereas composition also covers the ingredients themselves.
- work
- Work is a general word for any creation, while composition specifically names written or musical pieces.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: composition or composting? composition or component?
composition vs composting
Composting means turning waste into fertilizer, which is unrelated to creating or combining parts in a composition.
composition vs component
A component is a single part, while composition is the whole mixture of parts.
Practice
Which meaning of composition fits: 'The composition of the soil affects what crops grow.'?
Choose one answer.
Here composition means the ingredients that make up the soil. The other options are different senses that do not fit this scientific context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “composition”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.