composition

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole.
• noun The manner in which such parts are combined or related.
• noun General makeup.
• noun The result or product of composing; a mixture or compound.
• noun Arrangement of artistic parts so as to form a unified whole.
• noun The art or act of composing a musical or literary work.
• noun A work of music, literature, or art, or its structure or organization.
• noun A short essay, especially one written as an academic exercise.
• noun Law A settlement whereby the creditors of a debtor about to enter bankruptcy agree, in return for some financial consideration, usually proffered immediately, to the discharge of their respective claims on receipt of payment which is in a lesser amount than that actually owed on the claim.
• noun Linguistics The formation of compounds from separate words.
• noun Printing Typesetting.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of composing or compounding, or the state of being composed, compounded, or made up; union of different things or principles into an individual whole; the production of a whole by the union or combination of parts, constituents, or elements.
• noun Specifically— The act of producing a literary work.
• noun The art of putting words and sentences together in accordance with the rules of grammar and rhetoric: as, Greek prose composition.
• noun In printing, the setting of type; type-setting; in a wider sense, the preparation of type for use in the production of printed sheets, including setting, correction of errors, making up, and imposition.
• noun In philology, the union of two (rarely more than two) independent words to form a single word (called a compound); the formation of a word out of other existing words, as rainbow from rain and bow; and so gentleman, lifelike, fulfil, etc. See compound word, under compound, adjective
• noun In music, the art of composing music according to scientific rules. Composition is said to be strict when it follows certain recognized rules of musical form, and free when it is more or less independent of such rules.
• noun In the fine arts, arrangement or grouping of parts, especially harmonious grouping, or that combination of the several parts whereby a subject or an object is agreeably presented to the mind, each part being subordinate to the whole.
• noun Combination; orderly disposition; regulation.
• noun Specifically, an act of combination such that the distinctive characters of the parts are modified.
• noun That which results from composing, as a literary, musical, or artistic production; specifically, a short essay written as a school exercise.
• noun That which results from the combination or union of several ingredients; a compound: as, type-metal is a composition of lead and antimony.
• noun Specifically The combination of materials of which printers' inking-rollers are made.
• noun The manner in which or the stuff of which anything is composed; general constitution or make-up; structure.
• noun Hence Congruity; consistency.
• noun The compounding or reconciling of differences, or of different interests; a mutual settlement or agreement; now, specifically, an agreement between a debtor and a creditor by which the latter accepts part of the debt due to him in satisfaction of the whole.
• noun The sum or rate paid, or agreed to be paid, in compounding with creditors: as, he has agreed to pay a composition of 60 cents on the dollar, or of 12 shillings in the pound.
• noun In music: The combination of sounds which form a compound stop in an organ.
• noun A mechanical contrivance for moving the handles of organ-stops in groups.
• noun The synthetical mode of procedure in investigation or exposition; synthesis.
• noun In chem., the kind and relative amounts of the components of a compound; commonly, the kind and relative weights of the elements, or the kind and number of the atoms, which makeup the compound.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act or art of composing, or forming a whole or integral, by placing together and uniting different things, parts, or ingredients.
• noun The invention or combination of the parts of any literary work or discourse, or of a work of art.
• noun (Fine Arts) The art or practice of so combining the different parts of a work of art as to produce a harmonious whole; also, a work of art considered as such. See 4, below.
• noun The act of writing for practice in a language, as English, Latin, German, etc.
• noun (Print.) The setting up of type and arranging it for printing.
• noun The state of being put together or composed; conjunction; combination; adjustment.
• noun A mass or body formed by combining two or more substances.
• noun A literary, musical, or artistic production, especially one showing study and care in arrangement; -- often used of an elementary essay or translation done as an educational exercise.
• noun obsolete Consistency; accord; congruity.
• noun Mutual agreement to terms or conditions for the settlement of a difference or controversy; also, the terms or conditions of settlement; agreement.
• noun (Law) The adjustment of a debt, or avoidance of an obligation, by some form of compensation agreed on between the parties; also, the sum or amount of compensation agreed upon in the adjustment.
• noun Synthesis as opposed to analysis.
• noun a kind of cloth covered with a preparation making it waterproof.
• noun an agreement for composition between a debtor and several creditors.
• noun (Crystallog.) the plane by which the two individuals of a twin crystal are united in their reserved positions.
• noun (Mech.) the finding of a single force (called the resultant) which shall be equal in effect to two or more given forces (called the components) when acting in given directions.
• noun an alloy resembling brass, which is sometimes used instead of copper for sheathing vessels; -- also called Muntz metal and yellow metal.