comprise

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English comprisen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French compris, the past participle of comprendre (“to contain, include, comprehend”),^[4][5][6][7] from Latin comprehendō (“to seize; to include; to understand”), also contracted to comprendō,^[8][4][6] the source of comprehend.^[6][4] The Latin verb is formed from com- (“with, together; completely”) and prehendō (“to catch hold of, seize”), which contains Proto-Indo-European *ghend- (“to seize, take”).^[4] The OED and Hoad explain the English verb in “-prise” by analogy with emprise, enterprise and surprise, which also represent compounds of prendre,^[8][9][5] and Weekley notes that adopting a French past participle as an English verb is a common process.^[10] In Anglo-Norman the verb meant to include, contain, span, seize and understand from the early 12th century.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lay hold of, take or seize: 1423, in The Kingis Quair, a sense obsolete by 1592.^[8][12] Barnhart dates the verb to about 1425, developed from comprised, included.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Latin and French verb meant both "seize" and "understand", and English took over both: to lay hold of (1423) and to take in mentally, comprehend (1477), senses that died out in the 17th century.^[8][12] The lasting senses were "to bring together and include, especially in a treatise" (about 1425), "to sum up" (before 1533), and of material things "to contain as parts making up the whole, to consist of" (1481).^[8][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to contain; to comprehend; to include".^[13] From the late 18th century (1794 in Etymonline) it was also used the other way round, of the parts that make up the whole,^[4][3] and since the late 19th century in the passive be comprised of, "consist of".^[3]

Timeline

• 1423 – to lay hold of, seize (obsolete by 1592).^[8]
• c. 1425 – to bring together and include, especially in a written work.^[8][5]
• 1477 – to take in mentally, comprehend (obsolete by 1680).^[8]
• 1481 – to contain as parts making up the whole, to consist of.^[8][4]
• 1575 – in Scotland, to seize under legal authority (obsolete).^[8]
• 1794 – to constitute, make up.^[4][3]
• late 19th century – passive be comprised of, to consist of.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To consist of; to be made up of: The committee comprises nine members.^[14][3][8]
2. To include or contain, especially within a particular scope: The course comprises lectures and fieldwork.^[14][2]
3. To make up or constitute the whole of: Women comprise most of the staff.^[14][3]
4. (obsolete) To lay hold of; to seize.^[8][2]
5. (obsolete) To understand or comprehend.^[8][2]

Word family

• comprisable
• comprisal

Related words

• comprehensive
• comprehend
• comprehension
• apprehend
• enterprise
• surprise
• apprise

Usage notes

The traditional rule is that the whole comprises the parts and the parts compose the whole, so that comprise should not be used for "make up"; the American Heritage Dictionary notes that this distinction is still kept by many writers, while the other use is increasingly common.^[15] Dictionary.com notes that both "constitute" and the passive be comprised of are often criticized but appear more and more even in formal writing.^[3] Collins advises against comprise of.^[14]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin