■ verb consist of; be made up of.
↘(also be ~d of ) make up; constitute.
Origin
ME: from Fr., '~d', feminine past participle of comprendre (see comprehend ).
Usage
According to traditional usage, ~ means ‘consist of’ and should not be used to mean ‘constitute or make up (a whole)’. However, a passive use of ~ is fast becoming part of standard English: this use (as in the country is ~d of twenty states ) is more or less synonymous with the traditional active sense (as in the country ~s twenty states ).