Etymologically
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comprise

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Pronunciation

  • /kəmˈpɹaɪz/[1]

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

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