composite - Wiktionary, the free dictionary


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Illustrations which present the Composite order (sense 2)

Borrowed from Middle French composite, from Latin compositus, past participle of compōnō (“put together”). Doublet of compost and compote.

composite (comparative more composite, superlative most composite)

  1. Made up of multiple components; compound or complex.
  2. (architecture) Being a mixture of Ionic and Corinthian styles.
  3. (mathematics) Having factors other than itself and one; not prime and not one.
  4. (botany) Belonging to the Asteraceae family (formerly known as Compositae), bearing involucrate heads of many small florets.
  5. (photography, historical) Employing multiple exposures on a single plate, so as to create an average view of something, such as faces in physiognomy.
    composite portraiture; a composite photograph

    • 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 92:

      [B]y photographing a number of faces on the same plate, and so superimposing their images on one another, he produces a so-called "composite" photograph or image.

made up of multiple components; compound or complex

being a mixture of Ionic and Corinthian styles

Translations to be checked

composite (plural composites)

  1. A mixture of different components.
  2. A structural material that gains its strength from a combination of complementary materials.
  3. (botany) A plant belonging to the family Asteraceae, syn. Compositae.
  4. (mathematics) A function of a function.
  5. (mathematics) Clipping of composite number.
  6. (chiefly law enforcement) A drawing, photograph, etc. that combines several separate pictures or images.
  7. (rail transport, UK) A railway carriage with compartments for two different classes of travel; see Composite Corridor.

    • 1963 April, “New Inter-City diesel multiple-units for W.R.”, in Modern Railways, page 266:

      The units are made up as either:
      [...]
      Trailer composite—4 first-class compartments—24 seats; and 3 second-class compartments—24 seats,
      [...]
      A total of 40 vehicles are to be built, Ten of each type of power car, ten trailer composites, five trailer seconds and five trailer second/buffets.

  8. (fraternities) a framed photo board composed of many individual photos of fraternity or sorority members
  9. (uncommon) A segment, subset.

    • 1991 December 1, Jacob Smith Yang, quoting U.S. Trademark Office, “Old Glory Condoms Denied Patent”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 20, page 2:

      […] likely give offense to conscience or moral feelings or shock the sense of decency or propriety in a substantial composite of the general public

    • 2019, J. M. Odachi, S. E. Okon, “Organisational Culture and Perception of Service Quality among Employees in the Insurance Industry in Nigeria”, in UNILAG Journal of Humanities, volume 7, number 2, page 160:

      Insurance as an industry is a major composite of the financial sector of any economy all over the world, Nigeria inclusive.

mixture of different components

plant belonging to the family Compositae

Translations to be checked

composite (third-person singular simple present composites, present participle compositing, simple past and past participle composited)

  1. To make a composite.

    I composited an image using computer software.

Terms etymologically related to the adjective, noun, or verb "composite"

Inherited from Middle French, borrowed from Latin compositus. Doublet of compote and compost.

composite m (plural composites)

  1. composite material

composite (plural composites)

  1. composite

composite

  1. feminine plural of composito

composite

  1. vocative masculine singular of compositus
  • “composite”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “composite”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • composite in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.