componer

Forms

componer (first-person singular present compongo, first-person singular preterite compuse, past participle compuesto)^[1] Old Spanish often wrote it conponer.^[2][3] It is conjugated like poner, with the irregular participle compuesto.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin compōnō (“to put together, arrange”).^[4][1][5] Corominas treats it in the article on poner, and Wiktionary notes that it can be analysed as com- plus that verb.^[6][1]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese compor, Catalan compondre and Italian comporre.^[7][5] French composer is an adaptation of the Latin word after poser.^[8]

The Latin verb is com- “together” plus pōnō (“to place, put”).^[9][10] De Vaan explains the simple verb from an older Proto-Italic *po-sinō (“to put down”), a compound of the verb sinō (“to let, allow”).^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), which says the Jordan is compuesta “made up” of two streams, Jor and Dan.^[3] Corominas and the BDELC date the verb to Berceo (1220–1250), who uses it for setting a church in order and for composing a prayer: de la su sancta boca compuesto e dictado.^[6][12][3] The Fuero de Zorita (1218–1250) uses it for paying a fine in settlement, a sense of the Medieval Latin word.^[3][13]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose has the senses “to form, constitute”, “to put in order, repair”, “to adorn a person” and “to correct”.^[14] Nebrija gave it the Latin compono and condo, the latter for composing a work.^[15] Covarrubias in 1611 listed adorning, restraining oneself, making peace, helping a buyer and seller agree, inventing a lie, and the printers' sense of setting type.^[16] Autoridades recorded the reflexive componerse de “to consist of”, as in an army made up of several parts.^[17]

The idiom componérselas “to manage, find a way out” is colloquial.^[4][1] In much of Latin America componer means to set dislocated bones, and in Mexico and the Southern Cone also to castrate an animal, a euphemism recorded since the early 20th century.^[18][19] In the Canaries and Honduras it is used for seasoning and cooking food.^[20][18]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (in a 13th-century copy) has the participle compuesta.^[3]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo; the date Corominas gives.^[12][6]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's prose uses it for forming, repairing and adorning.^[14]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin compono and condo.^[15]
• 1518 – first record in the Americas, in Tierra Firme.^[21]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the printers' sense.^[16]
• 1729 – Autoridades records componerse de “to consist of”.^[17]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin componere.^[22]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To form one thing out of several, putting them together in order: Compuso un ramo con flores del jardín.^[4][23]
2. (transitive) Of parts: to make up, constitute a whole;^[1] (reflexive, with de) to consist of: El comité se compone de cinco miembros.^[4][1]
3. (transitive) To put in order or repair what is broken or out of order.^[4][1]
4. (transitive, also reflexive) To adorn, dress up.^[4]
5. (transitive, also reflexive) To reconcile people who have fallen out.^[4]
6. (transitive) To moderate, correct.^[4]
7. (transitive) To compose a scientific, literary or artistic work, especially music.^[4][1]
8. (transitive, colloquial) To restore, set right: Una sopa caliente te compondrá el cuerpo.^[4]
9. (printing) To typeset.^[4][16]
10. (Latin America) To set dislocated bones.^[18][19]
11. (Mexico, Southern Cone, rural) To castrate an animal.^[18][19]

Word family

• componedor
• componérselas
• descomponer
• recomponer

Related words

• componente
• composición
• compósito
• compositor
• poner
• Latin compōnō
• French composer

Usage notes

Componérselas means “to manage, get by”, and allá se las componga “let him sort it out himself” distances the speaker from someone else's decision.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. componer
3. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. componer
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. componer
5. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 1786
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 607
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. componere
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. composer
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. compōnō
10. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 185
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. pōnō
12. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. poner
13. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. componere
14. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. componer
15. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 316
16. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 495
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 454
18. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. componer
19. ^ a b c Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 385
20. ^ Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. componer
21. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. componer
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 267
23. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. componer