| 释义 |
composition|kɒmpəˈzɪʃən|
Also 4–5 -icioun.
[a. F. composition, ad. L. compositiōn-em, n. of action f. compōnĕre; see compone and compose.]
I. As an action.
* generally.
1. The action of putting together or combining; the fact of being put together or combined; combination (of things as parts or elements of a whole).
c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 221 By composiciouns Of Anglis. 1612Bacon Ess., Vain-Gl. (Arb.) 464 Such composition of glorious natures doth put life into busines. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §14 Wee must consider..when the composition of things together in the understanding, doth depend upon the meer operation of the mind. 1674Grew Anat. Plants, Lect. i. (1682) 226 The Composition of Atomes in Bodies is like that of Letters, in Words. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §31. 114 The instances of abridgement and composition of quotations.
2. The forming (of anything) by combination of various elements, parts, or ingredients; formation, constitution, construction, making up.
1555Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 338 One of the marueylous thynges that god vseth in the composition of man. 1656tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. (1839) 10 Every body..which is capable of composition and resolution. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 165 The Ingredients..imploy'd in the Composition of the Prepar'd Water. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xvi, In the composition of a pudding, it was her judgement that mixed the ingredients. 1821J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 112 The substitution of the troy pound..for the composition of the bushel and gallon.
†3. The putting (of things) into proper position, order, or relation to other things; orderly arrangement; ordering. Obs. or arch.
1598Bacon Relig. Medit., Earthly Hope (Arb.) 113 A state of minde which..is setled..out of a good gouernment and composition of the affections. 1644Bulwer Chiron. 21 In the gesture and composition of the body. 1704Swift Mech. Operat. Spirit, By what kind of Practices the Voice is best govern'd towards the Composition and Improvement of the Spirit. 1854Faber Growth in Holiness xxii. (1872) 453 Reverence and composition of body and outward demeanour.
** spec.
4. = synthesis.
†a. Philos. ‘Synthetic’ reasoning or demonstration; reasoning from the universal to the particular. Obs.
1570Billingsley Euclid i. i. 9 Composition passeth from the cause to the effect. Ibid., A demonstration a priori, or composition is, when in reasoning, from the principles and first groundes, we passe..till after many reasons made, we come at the length to conclude that, which we first chiefly entend. And this kinde of demonstration vseth Euclide..for the most part. 1704Newton Optics iii. Concl., As in Mathematicks, so in Natural Philosophy, the investigation..by the method of analysis, ought ever to precede the method of composition. 1751Chambers Cycl., Composition..is a method of reasoning wherein we proceed from some general self-evident truth to other particular and singular ones.
b. Logic. fallacy of composition: see quots.
1724Watts Logic iii. iii. §7 The sophism of composition is when we infer any thing concerning ideas in a compounded sense, which is only true in a divided sense..If any one should argue thus, Two and three are even and odd; five are two and three; therefore five are even and odd. 1864Bowen Logic ix. (1870) 278 The sophism of Composition..An instance..is what may be called the Spendthrift's Fallacy: All of these contemplated expenditures (taken separately) are of trifling amount; Therefore all of them may be incurred (together) without ruining me.
5. Combination of arithmetical factors, ratios, forces, or elements, so as to produce a compound resultant:
†a. Math. The multiplication of factors to produce a ‘compound’ or composite number. Obs.
b. The multiplication or compounding of ratios; see compound v. 2, a. 2.
†c. In a proportion, the substitution of the sum of the first and second terms for the first (or second), and of the sum of the third and fourth for the third (or fourth) Obs.; now expressed by componendo.
1557Recorde Whetst. B j, Here must you vnderstande by composition, the multiplicacion of the partes of nombers together. 1660Barrow Euclid v. xxx, BC / AB ‹ EF / DE and therefore by composition AC / AB ‹ DF / DE . 1695W. Alingham Geom. Epit. 19 If A : B :: C : D then by composition of Reason it will be as A + B : B :: C + D : D. 1827Hutton Course Math. I. 325. 1875 Todhunter Algebra xxvi. 224.
d. Dynamics. composition of forces: see quots. So c. of velocities, etc.
1807Hutton Course Math. II. 137 Composition of Forces, is the uniting of two or more forces into one, which shall have the same effect; or the finding of one force that shall be equal to several others taken together, in any different directions. 1830Kater & Lardn. Mech. v. 52 In the examples of the composition of forces..here given, the effects of the forces are the production of pressures, or to speak more correctly..the ‘composition of pressures’. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. iv. 73 The law which determines the composition of mechanic forces.
†e. Chem. Chemical combination. attraction of composition: a name for chemical affinity. Obs.
1800tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 5 The following ten laws..comprehend all the phenomena of the attraction of composition. 1816J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 304 The species of attraction called chemical attraction, is also [called]..the attraction of composition, or chemical affinity.
6. Gram.
a. The combination, according to certain rules or principles, of two (or more) words to form one compound word.
1530Palsgr. 9 Whan soever..this worde ex commeth in the composicion of any worde in the frenche tong. 1580Golding Pref. Verses Baret's Alv. A v a, To giue iust rules of Deriuation, And Composition. 1699Bentley Phal. 263 σιδωνο, which is one member in the Composition of it, relates to the Phœnissæ. 1871Roby Lat. Gram. §979 New words may be formed..by the junction of two or more separately intelligible words into one. This is called composition. The distinctive features of two words being compounded are the loss of their separate accents, and the possession of but one set of inflexions.
b. The due arrangement of words into sentences, and of sentences into periods; the art of constructing sentences and of writing prose or verse.
[1388Wyclif Ecclus. Prol., And lackide compassioun of wordis [Vulg. deficere in verborum compositione]. ]1553T. Wilson Rhet. 88 b, Composicion..is an apte joynyng together of wordes in suche order, that neither the eare shal espie any jerre, nor yet any man shalbe dulled with overlong drawing out of a sentance. 1666Dryden Pref. Ann. Mirab. (Globe) 38 The last line of the stanza is to be considered in the composition of the first. 1874Blackie Self Cult. 36 Composition, properly so called, is the culmination of the exercises of speaking and reading, translation and re-translation. Mod. All candidates must pass in Latin prose composition. Greek Verse composition is no longer obligatory.
7. The composing of anything for oral delivery, or to be read; the practice or art of literary production.
1577Harrison England Pref., My rash and retchlesse behauiour vsed in the composition of this volume. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 31 ⁋7 Dryden, whose warmth of fancy, and haste of composition, very frequently hurried him into inaccuracies. 1794Sullivan View Nat. II, The composition of such a series of history. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 75 Books of recent composition. 1829Scott Wav. Gen. Pref., I did not abandon the idea of fictitious composition in prose.
8. The action or art of disposing or arranging in due order the parts of a work of art, esp. of a drawing or painting, so as to form a harmonious whole.
1695Dryden tr. Du Fresnoy's Art Painting Pref., In the composition of a picture the painter is to take care that nothing enter into it which is not proper..to the subject. 1726Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. III. 14 b, Composition is that Rule or Method in painting, whereby the several Parts in a Picture are joyned together in order to form a Whole. 1848Sir W. Stirling Ann. Artists Spain I. 126 Their colouring is Flemish, but in drawing and composition they display a knowledge of the Italian models. 1859Gullick & Timbs Paint. 68 A successful attempt at composition, or the regular disposal of the subject in the space allotted. 1876H. N. Humphreys Coin Coll. Man. xxvi. 399 Certain coins of Trajan exhibit the same style of composition as the decussis.
9. The action or art of composing music.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 182 You lacke nothing of perfect musicians, but only vse to make you prompt and quicke in your compositions. 1795Mason Ch. Mus. i. 58 To invent within the rules of legitimate composition. 1882Shorthouse J. Inglesant xxii, Though devoted to secular..music, [he] brought to the performance and composition of it so much taste and correct feeling, that, etc.
10. Printing. The setting up of type; the composing of pages of matter for printing.
1832Babbage Econ. Manuf. xxi. (ed. 3) 206 The printer usually charges for composition by the sheet.
†11. The composing or settling (of differences, etc.). Obs.
a1654Selden Eng. Epin. ii. § 19 Quiet composition of seditious tumults.
12. The settling of a debt, liability, or claim, by some mutual arrangement; compounding. composition of felony: see compound v. 9. Cf. 22–25.
1557Order Hospitalls F vij b, All debts owing to the Howse by composition. 1682Lond. Gaz. No. 1686/4 That the said Debts may be satisfied without Composition or Abatement. 1707Reflect. upon Ridicule 267 To come to Composition, and lose one half of the Debt to save the rest. a1734North Life Sir D. North (1826) II. 371 If he could not get in all that was due from the debtor, he got by composition, barter, or other means, as much as he could. 1780Burke Sp. Econ. Ref. Wks. III. 300 All sorts of accounts should be closed some time or other—by payment; by composition; or by oblivion. 1855Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) V. ix. viii. 397 The composition for a life of wickedness by a gift to a priest. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. II. 248 A happy contrivance for the composition of felonies.
II. The mode, with the resulting condition or state.
13. a. The manner in which a thing is composed, compounded, or made up; condition or state as resulting from, or constituted by, combination; constitution, make, with reference to ingredients.
1382Wyclif Ex. xxx. 32 Beside [1611 after] the composicioun of it ȝe shulen not make another. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. vii. (1495) 555 In composicion of syluer is quycke syluer and whyte brymstone. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 152 Lapis Calaminaris, which enters into the Composition of the Brass. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 51 ⁋11 The composition of this pudding she has however promised Clarinda, that..she shall be told. 1831Brewster Optics vii. 69 Having thus clearly established the composition of white light. 1881J. Russell Haigs i. 27 The elements of heroism and romance enter largely into the composition of the narrative. 1883Eng. Illust. Mag. Nov. 88/1 Confusion..between the composition of brass and bronze.
†b. Structure, consistency. Obs.
1555Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 358 Matters of hard compositions, as quarreys and stones. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 22 The rockes are of a composition like Mill stones.
†14. Position in relation to other parts; disposition, arrangement, posture. Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. B.) 30 Þe brawne is made..as a bowe þat ys y-bent; & for þat kynde wolde kepe þys compositioun, he clothyde þe brawne wyþ a pannycle. 14..Prose Legends in Anglia VIII. 148 Hir berynge and composicyone of chere. 1644Bulwer Chiron. 70 The Thumbe erect, the other Fingers gently bent in, is a convenient composition of the Hand for an exordium.
15. The state or quality of being composite.
1541R. Copland Guydon's Formul. ii. Tj, The dysposycyons that make composycyons in woundes be sondry. 1570Billingsley Euclid i. Def. iii. 2 Pointes, for their simplicitie and lacke of composition, are..only the termes and endes of quantitie. 1609Bible (Douay) Num. iv. 16 The incense of composition. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xv. §9 None of the distinct Ideas we have of either is without all manner of Composition. 1872H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. II. vi. ii. 6 Even in Compound Quantitative Reasoning there are degrees of composition.
16. Of persons:
†a. Constitution of body. Obs.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 143 A good composition of the body layeth a good foundation of olde age. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 266 Mala constitutio, that is to say, an evill state or composition.
b. Mental constitution, or constitution of mind and body combined; the combination of personal qualities that make any one what he is. (Now usually regarded as transf. from 13.)
1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 73 Oh how that name befits my compositon: Old Gaunt indeed, and gaunt in being old. 1625Bacon Ess., Simulation (Arb.) 510 The best Composition, and Temperature is, to have Opennesse in Fame and Opinion; Secrecy in Habit. 1697–8Watts Reliq. Juv. (1789) 148 Some higher worlds, furnished with inhabitants of a better composition. 1701Swift Contests Nobles & Com. Athens, A sort of instinct or secret composition of their nature. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. xvii. Mod. Gallantry, Whatever there is of the man of business in my composition. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 241 Persons..who have a touch of madness in their composition.
17. Artistic manner, style.
a. The mode or style in which words and sentences are put together.
1532W. Thynne Chaucer's Wks. Ded., In whose [Chaucer's] workes is..suche perfectyon in metre, the composycion so adapted. 1597F. Thynne Animadv. (1865) Introd. 99 The tedious lengthe and the disordered compositione. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. xx. (1627) 241 To come to the stile and composition. 1870Stanhope Hist. Eng. II. xiii. 144 So superior was this speech in composition. 1873Morley Rousseau II. 238 The author..might have been expected to look beyond composition.
b. The arrangement of the parts of a literary work. rare. (Cf. sense 8.)
1838–9Hallam Hist. Lit. iv. v. §26 The ordonnance or composition of the Paradise Lost is admirable... Every part succeeds in an order noble, clear, and natural.
c. The (due) arrangement of the parts of a picture or other work of art (or of a natural scene).
1706Art of Painting (1744) 18 Composition, design, and colouring..are the essence of Painting. 1766Goldsmith Vic. W. xvi, They were drawn with seven oranges—a thing quite out of taste, no variety, no composition in the world. a1849Poe Landsc. Gard. Wks. 1864 IV. 341 What is technically termed the composition of a natural landscape. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 187 As regards the composition of the picture, I am not convinced of the propriety of its being in two so distinctly separate parts. 1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. viii. i. 159 Composition may be best defined as the help of everything in the picture by everything else.
d. Music.
1666–7Pepys Diary 12 Feb., He..played..most admirably, and the composition most excellent. a1789Burney Hist. Mus. I. Defin. p. xviii, To Excellence of Style and Composition.
†18. Consistency, congruity. Obs. rare. Cf. 22.
1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 1 There's no composition in this Newes, That giues them Credite.
III. The product.
19. a. quasi-concr. A condition consisting in the combination or union (material, practical, or ideal) of several things; a combination, aggregate, mixture.
1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 3 Orontius defineth the worlde to be the perfect and entiere composition of all thinges. a1680T. Brooks in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xxx. 5 All honey would harm us, all wormwood would undo us; a composition of both is the best way. 1744Berkeley Siris §58 Common soaps are compositions of lixivial salt and oil. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. 360 Every soil is a composition of different earths. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1779 It is difficult to represent this sound by any composition of our letters. 1821Craig Lect. Drawing iv. 233 A composition of ultra-marine and vermillion. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 35 Narrative is of three kinds, the simple, imitative, and a composition of the two.
b. used of persons. (Cf. 16 b.)
1790Pennant Lond. (1813) 133 Queen Elizabeth, as singular a composition as her father. 1847Emerson Repr. Men, Swedenborg Wks. (Bohn) I. 313 He seemed, by the variety..of his powers, to be a composition of several persons.
20. a. concr. A substance or preparation formed by combination or mixture of various ingredients.
Applied in various trades to particular mixed substances used in the operations of the trade; e.g. stucco, plaster or cement made to serve the purposes of marble or stone; mixed metal made for a particular purpose; the mixture of which candles are made; the composite material of which printers' inking-rollers are made, etc. In these technical uses, frequently shortened to compo1.
1555Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 229 Mengle togyther..a blacke masse or composition..lyke vnto very blacke pytche. 1562Turner Herbal ii. 130 b, We put it [squilla]..into drinkes or spicye composiciones. 1576Fleming Panop. Epist. 272 Medicinable compositions. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 43 That diaphanous Composition, Glass. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 164 An Ingredient of the Composition, with which the Egyptians embalm'd the Bodies. a1719Addison (J.), Vast pillars of stone, cased over with a composition, that looks the most like marble of any thing one can imagine. 1791Hamilton tr. Berthollet's Dyeing II. ii. iii. iv. 187 The solution of tin called by dyers Composition. 1831Brewster Nat. Magic iv. 69 Some compositions..which diffused noisome odours.
†b. A structure. Obs.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. §94 The much greater tonnage of the stone..than was necessary in the compositions of my predecessors.
21. An intellectual production.
†a. A sentence formed by due arrangement of words. Obs. rare.
1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. xiii. (1627) 180 Marking carefully both parts of the Composition or Sentence, both antecedent and consequent.
b. A train of ideas put into words; a literary production. In school and college language, one written as an exercise in the putting of ideas into prose or verse.
1601R. Chester Loves Martyr, To these are added some new compositions. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 95 Some compositions of his owne penning. 1734Watts Reliq. Juv. (1789) 159 Considerable benefit..to be derived from devotional compositions. 1774Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry Diss. ii. I. 27 Aldhelm's Latin compositions..were deemed extraordinary performances. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 75 Compositions of a similar nature to the tales of a Thousand and One Nights. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 47, I deny that I make verses or address compositions to him.
c. A work of art (esp. a drawing or painting), consisting of several elements artistically combined.
1774Sir J. Reynolds Disc. vi. Wks. 1798 I. 177 The capricious compositions of Tintoret. 1875Hamerton Intell. Life ii. i. 49 A study in colour of every separate thing that was to form part of the composition.
d. transf. to natural scenery.
1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty 12 Compositions in nature and art. 1879O. N. Rood Chromatics v. 61 The presence of clouds breaks up the symmetry of these natural chromatic compositions.
e. A musical production, a piece of music.
1666–7Pepys Diary 12 Feb., The whole composition is most excellent. a1789Burney Hist. Mus. IV. 282 One of Handel's compositions. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. vi, Herr Klesmer played a composition of his own, a Fantasia.
22. A mutual agreement or arrangement between two parties, a contract. arch. or Obs.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 848 And telle he moste his tale as was resoun, By forward and by composicioun. 1490Caxton Eneydos xxv. 92 Laomedon made a composicion with phebus and neptunus..by the whiche he promysed theym..a toune full of golde. 1599Parismus ii. (1661) 261 As he was making Composition with Parismenos for their Transportation. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 13 My curse on..all my posterity, if ever they come to any composition with the Lord Strutt. 1839Stonehouse Axholme 403 In the reign of Edward the Second..a composition was made between Sir John de Mowbray, and the Abbot of Selby.
23. a. An agreement for the settlement of political differences; a treaty, etc. arch.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 57 Pope Gregorye..sent to þe kynges of Engelond and of Scotlond..þat þe composicioun schulde be stedfastliche i-holde. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 497 That the realmes of England and of Fraunce..were of late..joyned together in an eternall league and composition. 1649Answ. Petit. City Oxf. in J. Harrington Def. Rights Univ. Oxf. (1690) 16 By..several charters confirmed by Act of Parliament and special compositions with the city. 1860Motley Netherl. (1868) I. vi. 290 To send a mission of mediation to Spain, for the purpose of..bringing about some honourable composition.
b. A mutual agreement for cessation of hostilities, a truce; an agreement for submission or surrender on particular terms; capitulation; terms of surrender.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cviii. 130, I desyre you that we may abyde in composicyon, that ye make vs no warr, nor we to you, the space of a moneth. 1627Lisander & Cal. iii. 44 Reyne Berk having held out three moneths against the attempts of the besiegers..yeelded upon composition. 1685Lond. Gaz. No. 2075/3 General Schultz has taken Caschaw by Composition. 1761–2Hume Hist. Eng. xl. (1806) III. 368 Henry..entered into a composition with them; and..granted them peace on the most advantageous conditions.
24. An agreement or arrangement involving surrender or sacrifice of some kind on one side or on both; a compromise.
1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxii. §7 Content to deliver up the bookes of God by compocition to the end their own lives might be spared. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. i. §16 The French speech..was fain at last to come to a composition with the English tongue. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. xii. 77 It will probably end in a composition, never to have either. 1826Q. Rev. XXXIII. 296 This singular composition between taste and principle. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 265 With the Elector of Saxony a composition was made..Instead of the four hundred thousand rixdollars which he had demanded, he consented to accept one hundred thousand and the Garter.
25. a. An agreement for the payment (or the payment by agreement) of a sum of money, in lieu of the discharge of some other obligation, or in a different way from that required by the original contract; a compounding; spec. an agreement by which a creditor accepts a certain proportion of a debt, in satisfaction, from an insolvent debtor.
The fines paid by Royalists under the Commonwealth were called Compositions of Delinquents.
1570Act 13 Eliz. c. 18 Comynaltie and cityzens shall have the said Ground..for such Composition as they shall make with the Lorde, Owners and Occupiers. 1622Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 344 Towardes the composition which they shall make with their creditors. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. (1821) 22 Such Summes of mony, as shall grow or come, by reason of any such compositions or Fines. 1646in Whitelock's Mem. Oct. 12 (1732) 224 Order touching Compositions of Delinquents. 1667Pepys Diary 10 Sept., There is no such thing likely to be as a composition with my Lady Castlemaine [8 Sept., Lady Castlemaine is compounding for a pension]. 1761–2Hume Hist. Eng. lii. (1806) IV. 92 Compositions were openly made with recusants, and the popish religion became a regular part of the revenue. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xviii. 345 The Irish admitted the composition or fine for murder. Mod. He is not a bankrupt; he was insolvent, but succeeded in making a composition with his creditors.
b. A sum of money paid in settlement of, or by way of compounding for, some claim or liability; e.g. the proportion of a debt paid, according to agreement, by an insolvent debtor.
1581Lambarde Eiren. iv. xvi. (1588) 578 Then is the partie to redeeme his libertie with some portion of money..which composition is properly called his Fine or his Raunsome. 1661Bramhall Just Vind. iv. 84 [He] made them pay at once an hundred and eighteen thousand pounds as a composition for their Estates. 1769Robertson Chas. V, V. 506 note, Fixing by law the fine or composition to be paid for each different crime. 1864Reader 11 June 749 Members, paying {pstlg}1 annually, with an entrance fee of {pstlg}1, or a life composition of {pstlg}10. 1888Times 13 Oct. 12/1 An offer was submitted of a composition of 5s. 6d. in the pound.
26. attrib. and Comb. as (in sense 20) composition-candle, composition-nail, composition-tube, composition-wall; (in sense 25) composition-fish (see quot.), composition-money, composition-rent; composition-action (see composition-pedal); composition-cloth, a waterproof material made from long flax, used for trunk-covers, etc.; composition-deed, a deed effecting a composition (see 25) between a debtor and creditors; composition-face (Cryst.) = composition-plane; composition-metal, a kind of brass composed of copper, zinc, etc., used for the sheathing of ships; composition-pedal, a pedal in an organ which acts on a number of stops at once, a combination-pedal; composition-plane (Cryst.), the common plane or base between the two parts of a twin crystal; composition roller Printing, an inking-roller usu. consisting of a metal core coated with a mixture of gelatine, glycerine, and molasses.
1881C. A. Edwards Organs 116 In large two-manual instruments it is..necessary to have well arranged *composition actions.
1861J. A. Symonds Let. 4 May (1967) I. 289, I..have laid in several volumes of De Quincey & 2 long *composition candles. c1865Letheby in Circ. Sc. I. 95/2 Fats..employed in the manufacture of composition-candles.
1614Eng. Way to Wealth in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 241 His Majesty's serjeant-cater hath yearly gratis, out of every ship and bark, one hundred of the choicest and fairest lings..and they call them *composition-fish.
1596Spenser State Irel. 91 Counting their *composition-money therewithall.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Composition-nails, those which are made of mixed metal..largely used for nailing on copper sheathing, are erroneously called copper nails.
1880Hopkins in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 383 A ‘double-action’ *composition pedal will not only draw out a given number of stops..suppose the first four—but will draw in all but the same four.
1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. iii. (1821) 257 The great charge..for her Majestie out of euery Plough land within the Province, called the *composition rent. 1795Hull Advertiser 25 July 1/1 The Estate is discharged of Tithes in kind, and subject only to a moderate composition Rent in lieu thereof.
1825T. C. Hansard Typographia Index ii, *Composition Rollers, for inking, attempted by Lord Stanhope. 1928J. C. Oswald Hist. Printing xxvi. 341 A London printer named Forster..evolved in 1810 a metal roller covered with a composition that distributed printing ink successfully. Baxter is the name of the inventor of composition rollers cast in molds. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset 270 Composition roller, an inking roller of gelatin and glue; very susceptible to moisture.
1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 78 Some..of the pipe usually employed, or of that more pliable *composition tube, employed by the makers of beer engines.
1816Keatinge Trav. I. 242 He rammed the victims of his malignant and drunken caprices..into his *composition-walls: for he too was an architect. |