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Compose vs Purpose - What's the difference?

compose | purpose |

As verbs the difference between compose and purpose

is that compose is while purpose is have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.

As nouns the difference between compose and purpose

is that compose is compound while purpose is an object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.

compose

English

(Composition)

Verb

(compos)
  • To make something by merging parts.
    • The editor composed a historical journal from many individual letters.
    Try to compose your thoughts.
  • * Bishop Sprat
    • Zeal ought to be composed of the highest degrees of all pious affection.
  • To make up the whole; to constitute.
    • A church is composed of its members.
  • * I. Watts
    • A few useful things compose their intellectual possessions.
  • (nonstandard) To comprise.
  • (transitive, or, intransitive) 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.
    Nine numbered symphonies, including the Fifth, were composed by Beethoven.
    It's difficult to compose without absolute silence.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Let me compose / Something in verse as well as prose.
  • * B. R. Haydon
    • the genius that composed such works as the "Standard" and "Last Supper"
  • (sometimes, reflexive) To calm; to free from agitation.
    • The defendant couldn't compose herself and was found in contempt.
  • * Dryden
    • Compose thy mind; / Nor frauds are here contrived, nor force designed.
  • To arrange the elements of a photograph or other picture.
  • To settle (an argument, dispute etc.); to come to a settlement.
  • * 2010 , (Christopher Hitchens), Hitch-22 , Atlantic 2011, p. 280:
    • By trying his best to compose matters with the mullahs, he had sincerely shown that he did not seek a violent collision
  • To arrange in proper form; to reduce to order; to put in proper state or condition.
  • * Dryden
    • In a peaceful grave my corpse compose .
  • * Milton
    • How in safety best we may / Compose our present evils.
  • (printing, dated) To arrange (types) in a composing stick for printing; to typeset.

    • Derived terms

    * composer * composite * composing stick * composition * compositor * composure * decompose

    Related terms

    * compound

    purpose

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
  • A result that is desired; an intention.
  • The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.
  • * 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:
    • United began with more purpose in the early phase of the second half and Liverpool were grateful for Glen Johnson's crucial block from Young's goalbound shot.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz
    • , title= Ode to Prime Numbers , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}
  • The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
    • (Spenser)
  • The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.
    • The purpose of turning off the lights overnight is to save energy.
  • (obsolete) Instance; example.
    • (rfquotek, L'Estrange)
    Synonyms
    * (target ): aim, goal, object, target * (intention ): aim, plan, intention * (determination ): determination, intention, resolution * (subject of discourse ): matter, subject, topic * (reason for doing something ): reason * See also
    Derived terms
    (terms derived from purpose) * all-purpose * common purpose * cross-purpose * fit for purpose * for all intents and purposes * game with a purpose * general-purpose * infinitive of purpose * multi-purpose * metapurpose * purpose-built * purposeful * purposeless * purpose-like * purpose loan * purposely * purpose statement * on purpose

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (purpos)
  • Have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
  • * Macaulay
    • I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living.
  • (passive ) Designed for some purpose.
  • (obsolete) To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.
    • (Spenser)
    Derived terms
    * purposed * purposer * purposive * on purpose
    Synonyms
    * (have set as one's purpose ): aim, intend, mean, plan, set out * (designed for some purpose ): intended

    References

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    Statistics

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