Compose or comprise?
compose is a verb meaning “To make something by merging parts”; comprise is a verb meaning “To be made up of; to consist of (especially a comprehensive list of parts)”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) comprise is about as common as compose.
What is the difference between compose and comprise?
| compose | comprise | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb | verb |
| Meaning | To make something by merging parts To make up the whole; to constitute | To be made up of; to consist of (especially a comprehensive list of parts) proscribedTo compose; to constitute |
| Example | The editor composed a historical journal from many individual letters | Near-synonyms: subsume, contain, include, embrace, comprehend |
| Forms | composes, composing, composed | comprises, comprising, comprised |
| Pronunciation | /kəmˈpəʊz/ /kəmˈpoʊz/ /kəmˈpəʉz/ | /kəmˈpɹaɪz/ |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words | 4.2 times per million words |
Sources: compose and comprise in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of compose and comprise
compose
- 1
To make something by merging parts
The editor composed a historical journal from many individual letters
- 2
To make up the whole; to constitute
A church is composed of its members
- 3
To construct by mental labor; to think up; particularly, to produce or create a literary or musical work
The orator composed his speech over the week prior
- 4
To calm; to free from agitation
Try to compose your thoughts
- 5
To arrange the elements of a photograph or other picture
- 6
To settle (an argument, dispute etc.); to come to a settlement
- 7
To arrange in proper form; to reduce to order; to put in proper state or condition
comprise
- 1
To be made up of; to consist of (especially a comprehensive list of parts)
Near-synonyms: subsume, contain, include, embrace, comprehend
- 2
proscribedTo compose; to constitute
Near-synonym: make up
- 3
To include, contain, or be made up of, defining the minimum elements, whether essential or inessential to define an invention
(close-ended)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, compose or comprise?
compose appears 2.9 times per million words; comprise 4.2 times per million words.
compose 2.9 times per million wordscomprise 4.2 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search compose vs comprise?
“compose vs comprise” is searched about 2,900 times a month on Google and 40 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“comprise vs compose”, “compose or comprise”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.