Etymologically
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composite

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkɒm.pə.zɪt/, US /kəmˈpɑː.zɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French composite,[2][3][4] from Latin compositus (“placed together”), the past participle of compōnō (“to put together, arrange”), from com- (“together”) and pōnō (“to put, place”) (see position).[2][3][5] It is a doublet of compost and compote.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Made up of distinct parts: probably before 1400 in Barnhart, about 1400 in Etymonline.[2][3] The noun, a compound number, is also probably from before 1400,[2] and the NODE gives the first use as describing a number of more than one digit.[4]

Semantic evolution

Middle English had nombrys composyt, with French word order, about 1400, and composite number, one with factors, is from 1730.[3][6] The Composite order of architecture, combining Ionic and Corinthian, is from 1563.[6][5] The general sense, made of various parts, is from 1678 in the OED.[6] A composite photograph, printed from several negatives, is from 1884.[3] The verb, to combine resolutions put before a party conference, is from 1962.[6]

Timeline

  • probably before 1400 – composite (adjective, noun).[2]
  • 1563 – the Composite order.[6]
  • 1730 – composite number.[3][6]
  • 1884 – composite photograph.[3]
  • 1962 – to composite (verb).[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Made up of distinct parts; compound.
  2. (botany) Of the daisy family, Asteraceae.
  3. (mathematics) Able to be factorized: a composite number.
  4. (architecture) Of the Composite order, which combines Ionic and Corinthian styles.

Noun

  1. Something made of distinct components.
  2. A material such as fibreglass in which distinct substances combine to give better properties.

Verb

  1. (British) To combine resolutions put before a party conference.

Word family

  • compositely
  • compositeness
  • noncomposite
  • composite function

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press