compose
/kəmˈpoʊz/verb
compose is spelled C-O-M-P-O-S-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “compose vs comprise” about 2,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, compose means “To make something by merging parts” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in compose?
| Letters | 7: C-O-M-P-O-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is compose?
Compose appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce compose?
- UK /kəmˈpəʊz/
- US /kəmˈpoʊz/
- Australia /kəmˈpəʉz/
Compose has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-compose.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with compose
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with compose?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as compose from its last stressed vowel (/oʊz/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of compose
- composes present, singular, he/she/it
- composing participle, present
- composed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does compose mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 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
nonstandardTo comprise.
- 4
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.
- 5
To calm; to free from agitation.
Try to compose your thoughts.
- 6
To arrange the elements of a photograph or other picture.
- 7
To settle (an argument, dispute etc.); to come to a settlement.
- 8
To arrange in proper form; to reduce to order; to put in proper state or condition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Compose in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | composer |
| German | zusammenstellen, zusammensetzen, komponieren , enthalten, umfasst, einschliessen |
| Portuguese | compor, montar , compor-se de) , constituir |
| Spanish | componer , constar de, componerse de , conformar , sosegarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does compose come from?
From Middle English composen, from Old French composer (“to compose, compound, adjust, settle”), from com- + poser, as an adaptation of Latin componere (“to put together, compose”), from com- (“together”) + ponere (“to put, place”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).