Noun

(en noun)

The proportion of different parts to make a whole.

The general makeup of something.

(obsolete) An agreement or treaty used to settle differences; later especially, an agreement to stop hostilities; a truce.

* , I.40:

It will stoope and yeeld upon better compositions to him that shall make head against it.

* 1630 , John Smith, True travels , in Kupperman 1988, p.50:

with an incredible courage they advanced to the push of the Pike with the defendants, that with the like courage repulsed, that the Turks retired and fled into the Castle, from whence by a flag of truce they desired composition .

(obsolete) An agreement to pay money in order to clear a liability or obligation; a settling.

* 1745 , Edward Young, Night-Thoughts , II:

Insidious death! should his strong hand arrest, / No composition sets the prisoner free.

(legal) an agreement or compromise by which a creditor or group of creditors accepts partial payment from a debtor.

A mixture or compound; the result of composing.

An essay.

(linguistics) The formation of compound words from separate words.

A work of music, literature or art.

* 1818 , (Jane Austen), A letter dated 8 September 1818:

and how good Mrs. West could have written such books and collected so many hard words, with all her family cares, is still more a matter of astonishment. Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb.

(printing) Typesetting.

(label) Applying a function to the result of another.

(obsolete) Consistency; accord; congruity.

* Shakespeare

There is no composition in these news / That gives them credit.

Synthesis as opposed to analysis.

* Sir Isaac Newton

The investigation of difficult things by the method of analysis ought ever to precede the method of composition .

Noun

(en noun)

A distinct physical object.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author= Nick Miroff

, volume=189, issue=7, page=32, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Mexico gets a taste for eating insects […] , passage=The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters […]. But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna.}}

A line of text having a legal or other meaning; a separate particular in an account.

(label) A question on a test, which may include its answers.

A matter for discussion in an agenda.

(label) Two people who are having a relationship with each other.

* 2010 , (Justin Bieber) featuring (Ludacris), ''

Are we an item ? Girl, quit playin' / "We're just friends," what are you sayin'?

A short article in a newspaper.

(label) A hint; an innuendo.

* (Thomas Fuller) (1606-1661)

A secret item was given to some of the bishops to absent themselves.