com ‧ po ‧ si ‧ tion /ˌkɒmpəˈzɪʃ ə n $ ˌkɑːm-/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin compositio , from compositus ; ⇨ ↑ composite 1 ]
1 . PARTS/MEMBERS [uncountable and countable] the way in which something is made up of different parts, things, or members ⇨ compose
composition of
The composition of the group that is studied depends on the interests of the researcher.
Some minerals have complex chemical compositions.
2 . MUSIC/WRITING
a) [countable] a piece of music, a poem, or a piece of writing ⇨ compose , composer :
a composition by jazzman Dave Brubeck, called ‘Chromatic Fantasy’
a mixture of traditional songs and original compositions
b) [uncountable] the art or process of writing pieces of music, poems etc:
The Journals contain accounts of literary composition.
3 . PICTURE [uncountable and countable] the way in which the different parts that make up a photograph or picture are arranged:
Martin starts by lightly sketching in the compositions for his paintings.
4 . WRITING AT SCHOOL [countable] a short piece of writing about a particular subject, that is done at school SYN essay :
I had to write a composition about the Royal visit.
5 . PRINTING [uncountable] technical the process of arranging words, pictures etc on a page before they are printed
—compositional adjective
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THESAURUS
▪ music the sounds made by musical instruments or people singing:
The music was really loud.
▪ tune the main series of musical notes in a piece of music:
a folk song with a pretty tune
▪ melody the main series of notes in a piece of music that has many notes being played at the same time, especially in classical music:
The soprano sang the melody.
▪ harmony the chords or notes in a piece of music that support the melody:
the rich harmonies in the symphony
▪ piece ( also piece of music ) an arrangement of musical notes – use this about music without words:
It’s a difficult piece to play.
▪ composition formal a piece of music that someone has written:
This is one of his own compositions.
▪ work a piece of music, especially classical music:
one of Mozart’s best-known works
▪ track one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD:
the album’s title track
▪ number a piece of popular music that forms part of a concert or show:
the show’s first number