Word of the Day
Word
Comprise (v.)
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Difficulty
G — Levels range from A to J. What is my level?
Definition
To include, contain, consist of, be composed of, comprehend, embrace, as: "To COMPRISE much matter in few words"; or, "The empire COMPRISED a number of separate states.
Details
" COMPRISE comes through French from the past participle of the Latin verb COMPRENDERE, a combination of COM, together, and PRENDERE, to seize, grasp, take hold of. From the same source come the noun REPRISE, a word used in music to mean repetition, recapitulation, return to an original theme; and the verbs SURPRISE, to come upon unexpectedly, seize with sudden wonder; and APPRISE, to notify, inform, tell, advise, warn, as: "APPRISED of all the facts." To COMPRISE, to CONSTITUTE, and to COMPOSE are often used interchangeably. Careful usage, however, distinguishes them. "By definition," says the New College Edition of the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY, "the whole comprises the parts; the parts do not comprise the whole, nor is the whole comprised of its parts." Good usage does not allow the following constructions: Ten stories COMPRISE the book; the book is COMPRISED OF ten stories. Correct usage would be: The book COMPRISES ten stories; ten stories are COMPRISED IN the book; the book is COMPOSED OF ten stories; ten stories CONSTITUTE the book. Bergen and Cornelia Evans, in their DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN USAGE, published in 1957, give this definition: "To COMPRISE is to include, contain, be composed of: the program COMPRISED twelve events. To CONSTITUTE is to compose or to form: Twelve events CONSTITUTE the program. A body comprises those things of which it is constituted." Of the distinction between COMPRISE and INCLUDE, the Evanses write: "It is better to use COMPRISE when all of the constituent parts are enumerated or referred to and to use INCLUDE when only some of them are." Thus, a list may COMPRISE the names of all the families in a neighborhood, and INCLUDE the names of those who have recently moved in; a genus COMPRISING 50 species INCLUDES some that are often classified differently. Listen
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