What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Comprise vs Contribute - What's the difference?

comprise | contribute |

As verbs the difference between comprise and contribute

is that comprise is to be made up of; to consist of (especially a comprehensive list of parts) while contribute is to give something, that is or becomes part of a larger whole.

comprise

English

Verb

(compris)
  • To be made up of; to consist of (especially a comprehensive list of parts).
  • :
  • :
    However, the passive voice of comprise must be employed carefully to make sense. Phrases such as "animals and cages are comprised by zoos" or "pitchers, catchers, and fielders are comprised by baseball teams" highlight the difficulty.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=David Ornstein, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Arsenal 1-0 Everton , passage=Arsenal were playing without a recognised full-back - their defence comprising four centre-halves - and the lack of width was hindering their progress.}}
  • To include, contain or embrace.
  • :
  • To compose, to constitute. See usage note below.
  • :
  • :
  • *1657 , (Isaac Barrow), (translation), Prop. XXX
  • *:"Seeing then the angles comprised of equal right lines are equal, we have found the angle FDE equal to the angle ABC."
  • *
  • *:Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with (by way of local colour) on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
  • (lb) To include, contain, or be made up of ("open-ended", doesn't limit to the items listed; cf. compose , which is "closed" and limits to the items listed)
  • Usage notes

    * Traditionally, a team comprised its members, whereas the members composed'' the team. (The ''Associated Press Stylebook'' advises journalists to maintain this distinction.) The sense "compose, constitute" — as in "the members comprise the team" — is sometimes considered incorrect. According to '' also state that it is an increasingly frequent and accepted usage. * The use of "of" with the verb in the active (rather than passive) tense is always incorrect, hence *"the UK comprises of four countries" and *"four countries comprise of the UK" are incorrect.

    contribute

    English

    Verb

    (contribut)
  • To give something, that is or becomes part of a larger whole.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke
  • , title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.}}

    Synonyms

    * add * assist * bestow * bring * chip in * impart * kick in * lend * provide * put up