Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To be composed of or contain: synonym: include.
  • transitive verb Usage Problem To compose; make up; constitute.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To comprehend; contain; include; embrace: as, the German empire comprises a number of separate states.
  • To press together; gather into a small compass; compress.
  • Synonyms To embrace, embody, inclose, encircle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To comprehend; to include.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb informal, considered incorrect To compose, to constitute. See usage note below.
  • verb patents To include, contain or embrace, but not implying an exhaustive list.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb be composed of
  • verb include or contain; have as a component
  • verb form or compose

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English comprisen, from Old French compris, past participle of comprendre, to include, from Latin comprehendere, comprēndere; see comprehend.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French compris, past participle of comprendre, from Latin comprehendere, contr. comprendere, past participle comprehensus ("to comprehend"); see comprehend. Compare apprise, reprise, surprise.

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Examples

  • The coins comprise a diverse cross section of coins in circulation at the first part of the 19th Century, including an important group of exceptional quality southern mint gold coins.

    NCS Conserves Coins Recovered from the Steamship New York : Coin Collecting News 2009

  • I like a man who knows how to use the word comprise correctly.

    Archive 2005-01-01 M-mv 2005

  • I like a man who knows how to use the word comprise correctly.

    Anniversary M-mv 2005

  • I like a man who knows how to use the word comprise correctly.

    Archive 2005-10-01 M-mv 2005

  • When combined with missed furniture pickup the calls comprise more than one quarter of all complaint-and-service-related calls to the city's info hotline.

    Thestar.com - Home Page Brendan Kennedy 2010

  • When combined with missed furniture pickup the calls comprise more than one quarter of all complaint-and-service-related calls to the city's info hotline.

    Thestar.com - Home Page Brendan Kennedy 2010

  • When combined with missed furniture pickup the calls comprise more than one quarter of all complaint-and-service-related calls to the city's info hotline.

    Thestar.com - Home Page Brendan Kennedy 2010

  • Chalcedon (Concil.tom. iv.p. 761 — 2071) comprehend those of Ephesus, (p. 890 — 1189,) which again comprise the synod of Constantinople under Flavian, (p. 930 — 1072;) and at requires some attention to disengage this double involution.

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206

  • The financial terms comprise an up-front payment of $500 million to the Hancock group, led by billionaire Australian businesswoman Gina Rinehart , and the rest in phases--$200 million one year after the completion of the deal and $560 million on the financial closure of the coal project, anticipated to be in 2012.

    GVK Raises Loan for Hancock Deal Prasenjit Bhattacharya 2011

  • At a time when subtle, literate film comedies seem like an endangered species at best, these titles comprise a welcome breath of rarefied air.

    John Farr: Laughing in Style: That Special 'Lubitsch Touch' John Farr 2011

Comments

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  • be made up of : sth is made up of several parts

    be composed of : sth is composed of several parts

    consist of : sth consits of several parts

    comprise : sth comprises several parts

    include : sth includes several parts

    March 11, 2010

  • Comprise Simple rules for comprise are: the whole comprises the parts. Comprise never takes "of."

    October 26, 2010