/,kɒmpə'zɪʃn; ,kɑmpə`zɪʃən/
n
1 [C] thing composed, eg a piece of music, a poem or a book 作品（如乐曲、诗或书）
*`Swan Lake' is one of Tchaikovsky's best-known compositions. 《天鹅湖》是柴可夫斯基最着名的作品之一.
2 [U]
(a) action of composing sth, eg a piece of music or writing, type for printing, etc 创作
*He played a piano sonata of his own composition, ie that he himself had composed. 他演奏了一首自己创作的钢琴奏鸣曲.
(b) art of composing music 作曲艺术
*studying composition at music school 在音乐学校学习作曲艺术.
3 [C] short piece of non-fictional writing done as a school or college exercise; essay 作文; 散文.
4 [U] the parts of which sth is made; make-up 成分; 组成部分
*the composition of the soil 土壤的成分
* (fig 比喻) He has a touch of madness in his composition, ie He is a little mad. 他有点疯疯癫癫的.
5 [U] arrangement of elements in a painting, photograph, etc （绘画、摄影等的）构图
*Her drawing is competent, but her composition is poor. 她的画有功力, 但布局欠佳.
6 [C, U] substance, esp an artificial one, composed of more than one material （尤指人工）合成的物质
*a composition used as flooring material 合成的地板材料
* [attrib 作定语] a composition floor 合成地板.

n

---

1【parts/members】
2【music/writing】
3【picture】
4【writing at school】
5【printing】

---

[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French;Origin:Latin compositio, from compositus; COMPOSITE¹]
【PARTS/MEMBERS】 [U and C]
the way in which something is made up of different parts, things, or members
→composecomposition of
　The composition of the group that is studied depends on the interests of the researcher.
　Some minerals have complex chemical compositions.
【MUSIC/WRITING】
a)[C]
a piece of music, a poem, or a piece of writing
→compose, composer composer
　a composition by jazzman Dave Brubeck, called 'Chromatic Fantasy'
　a mixture of traditional songs and original compositions
b)[U]
the art or process of writing pieces of music, poems etc
　The Journals contain accounts of literary composition.
【PICTURE】 [U and C]
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.
【WRITING AT SCHOOL】[C]
a short piece of writing about a particular subject, that is done at school
= essay
　I had to write a composition about the Royal visit.
【PRINTING】[U]
technical the process of arranging words, pictures etc on a page before they are printed
>compositionaladj